3 OL Starters Out - Blessing in Disguise?

[jfkbengals]

(10-31-2020, 10:58 AM)jfkbengals Wrote: I know that many want to see some of the backups play on the oline to see if they can protect Burrow better than the starter.

I agree with that sentiment to a degree, but would prefer it not be a wholesale change as too much can go wrong and expose the young man to serious injury.

With all of that said, if Joe lays and egg tomorrow due to relentless pressure and poor oline performances, could THIS be the moment that management realizes the importance of paying quality interior linemen?

The kid has taken a brutal beating this year from sub-par play.  Should the oline devolve even more, I think the light bulb might finally come on to know that significant resources are required to keep a QB upright so he can do his job.

(10-31-2020, 12:36 PM)fredtoast Wrote: The claim that the Bengals don't value O-line is ridiculous.  Bengals have always paid the O-line well.  Levi and Willie were the highest paid OT duo in the league.  We paid Whitworth well until he was 36.  We paid OG's Bobbie Williams and Clint Boling well and used a first round pick on OG Kevin Zeitler.   We have used a first round pick on O-line in 2 of our last 3 and 3 of our last 5 drafts.  We traded for the 8th highest paid OT in the league in 2018. 

The point of the post was about being cheap on the INTERIOR of the line, not about tackles.

Boling and Wiliiams both had very team friendly deals.

Zeitler was a first round pick who walked after his capped rookie deal was over because the team would not offer a deal commensurate with the rate of a top guard.  Pretty much the same thing happened with Eric Steinbach.

They continue to undervalue the interior of the line, and it keeps rearing its ugly head.