Offensive Line: It's NOT the Players. It's the Scheme

[Fan_in_Kettering]

What do Billy Price, Cedric Ogbuehi, Jonah Williams, Jake Fisher, and Russell Bodine all have in common?

Simple: They were among the highest graded players at their respective positions in college. I offer the example of these five offensive linemen as a microcosm of the Bengals' trench problems over the years. How is it that college stars are drafted early by Cincinnati and let's just use the word underperform in the NFL?

Coaching is the issue. The hapless Jim Turner never created a dominant offensive line anywhere else in the NFL so why anyone thinks this will magically happen in Cincinnati is pazzo. That's Italian for mishuganah. Frank Pollack built a great line in Dallas and really never had a chance to make his mark with the Bengals so we'll throw that data point out as an outlier. Paul Alexander is the chameleon coach because some of his lines were outstanding early on but some of them stank up Paul Brown Stadium.

Therefore, I believe the difference is this: Paul Alexander's scheme was bad while Jim Turner's scheme is incorrect. Let's define scheme before going further; scheme is the set, the blocking technique, and the blocking assignment. "Mister Hart, you set up angled inward, drive block the defensive end, and turn him inside." A good lineman can overcome a bad scheme but an incorrect scheme is the death knell for the entire line.

This is why the lines composed of players like Rich Braham, Willie Anderson, and Levi Jones had success. They possessed the talent to overcome a bad scheme. No one, not even Jonah Williams, can overcome an incorrect and outdated scheme. Jim Turner might have a gruff, mean exterior but this does not translate into effective blocking technique. Defensive linemen are no longer fat blubber-filled lumbering Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men; they are big, strong, and fast. Merely pushing against them like moving a refrigerator is an exercise in futility. As Dave Lapham says, whoever has the lowest pad level wins. I don't see low pads among the Bengals' linemen; I see them get stood up and beaten on every play.

On the radio I've heard excellent commentary about technique from Willie Anderson and Joe Walter and I believe these two men -- and other former players -- should be coaching the offensive line. Jim Turner is going to be an accessory to assault because Joe Burrow is getting beat up for his lunch money back there. Joe Mixon is getting stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. There is no excuse for this, none. Fixing this incorrect scheme cannot wait until next year. It cannot even wait until next week.