Would you bring Andre Smith back?

[Fan_in_Kettering]

It depends.

If the Bengals want to be a run-first team then bringing Andre Smith back makes eminently good sense because he is a defensive end-destroying outside linebacker-flattening road grader on run plays. Once Andre left for Minnesota the Bengals immediately had issues running to the right. The last time Jeremy Hill or Giovani Bernard broke a big run to the right was about a year ago.

However, if Cincinnati wants to predominantly become a passing offense, Andre Smith doesn't make sense to come back at right offensive tackle because spin moves from that direction get him turned around but...

...if Andrew Whitworth leaves to pursue a Super Bowl title, that leaves an open vacancy at left tackle and I would be open to bringing Andre back in that capacity. Why? It's his natural position, that's why! At Alabama he was amazing at left tackle, much more mobile, and he kept his quarterback protected from the blind side. That would put Jake Fisher at right tackle where he was effective on both pass and run plays so the offensive line in 2017 would presumably look like this:

LT: Andre Smith
LG: Clint Boling (or TJ Johnson)
C: TJ Johnson (or Pat Elflein)
RG: Kevin Zeitler
RT: Jake Fisher

This means saying bye-bye to Cedric Ogbuehi and Russell Bodine.