B/R ranks Bengals QB supporting cast #1

[Joelist]

I'm not at all sure I'd rate the supporting cast #1. For one thing, we have our #1 TE and #2 WR returning from season ending injury. Until they do it in live game competition we don't know how fully back they are. Then there is AJ who missed significant time to injury and also our having a rookie TE in the mix (Kroft) as well.

OL is a bit hard to pin down. We've been good at the tackles for a while but have been notorious in both the Andy and Carson eras for having issues with interior pass protection. It is a major reason for our 2.2 second release time on passes and really we haven't yet truly fixed it (and it is also why the PFF pressure stats are not usable - getting the ball out so quick distorts both the sack and pressure numbers). Ghiacuc was the worst center in the NFL, Cook was only a bit better and Bodine struggled last season. Boling has had issues in pass protection too and Nate Livings before him was absolutely putrid. It is also why our QBs constantly lack any sort of decent pocket to step up into.

So...if our returning injured players are really 100% back and we solve the interior blocking then I'd rate the group pretty high. Otherwise...not so much.