Williams, Spain, Hopkins, Su'a-Filo, Reiff

[kevin]

Bengals,Com show them #1 on the Depth Chart as Bengals Starting Offensive Line from Left to Right. As bad as the blocking has been the last 4 seasons, let us hope this group can do a lot better. To me, this is The Key if Bengals are going to be any good or not. Running lanes for Mixon and Pass Blocking for Burrow are in great need. Without blocking, the team will be awful. With blocking, this team could win a lot of games.

GO BENGALS...

[BritishBengal]

Better than last year but still far from great. The irony is I've spent so much time watching Carmen, Smith etc that I don't really know much of Spain and XSF. I really wonder if that guard pairing lasts too long.

[masonbengals fan]

Key will be to stay healthy.

[kevin]

(09-03-2021, 07:30 PM)BritishBengal Wrote: Better than last year but still far from great. The irony is I've spent so much time watching Carmen, Smith etc that I don't really know much of Spain and XSF. I really wonder if that guard pairing lasts too long.

Well I've never been to Spain, but I kind of like the music. 

[JaggedJimmyJay]

I think the Bengals fanbase and national media have both underestimated the difference Riley Reiff can make.

The tackles can be legitimately excellent in tandem and I am really looking forward to seeing them play together.

[Tlawsonmariat82]

(09-03-2021, 07:30 PM)BritishBengal Wrote: Better than last year but still far from great. The irony is I've spent so much time watching Carmen, Smith etc that I don't really know much of Spain and XSF. I really wonder if that guard pairing lasts too long.

I did the same thing buddy..I can honestly say I'm wishing Carmen can crack rg and Smith can crack LG to me that's truly the most talented lineup..

[Emeritus]

So what do you think?
There will be no coming back from this at all!

[Emeritus]

I'm telling you now that it's a BIG problem.!

[Tony]

Wtf are u talking about?

[Tony]

This is why Zack had Jordan at #1 guard position. Lol. He didn't want to get the real starters hurt... Good on Zack...

[Boomer Anderson]

(09-03-2021, 07:46 PM)kevin Wrote: Well I've never been to Spain, but I kind of like the music. 

Sweet ladies are insane there but they sure know how to use it. Lol

[Bengalitis]

(09-03-2021, 08:32 PM)Tony Wrote: This is why Zack had Jordan at #1 guard position. Lol. He didn't want to get the real starters hurt... Good on Zack...

I think Zac would like to extend his contract and keep those millions coming, he's gonna try his best to squeeze a 9-8 season at least.

[phil413]

(09-03-2021, 08:58 PM)Boomer Anderson Wrote: Sweet ladies are insane there but they sure know how to use it. Lol

What does it matter?

[GreenCornBengal]

In case anyone didn’t know. Bobby Hart was cut from Buffalo lol. So agreed Reiff is a big upgrade, even if he is average at best.

[fredtoast]

(09-03-2021, 09:48 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: In case anyone didn’t know. Bobby Hart was cut from Buffalo lol. So agreed Reiff is a big upgrade, even if he is average at best.

Hart, MJ, Redmond, Price, and Shaq Calhoun combined to start 32 games for us last yeat.This year all of them were cut after training camp. Most of them are still unemployed. 

[Joelist]

Reiff is a pretty big upgrade. And once they both got on the field at the same time Spain and XSF played well and stabilized the line issues - in the 4 games they were both on the line yielded a total of 2 sacks and 8 pressures. So this lineup is a significant upgrade on what started last season.

[tms]

The OL1's a house of cards. It may be decent as long as it stays upright, but it could fold at any time. There are at least as many questions as answers imo. To start, Jonah is nothing if not injury-prone. Hopkins is coming off a knee and has played only a handful (3?!) snaps since January. This is not ideal. XSF is never in shape and didn't exactly remind me of the Rock during preseason. Speaking of which, Spain has been awful so far. Reiff is an older god whose body could keel over at any time.

This isn't to say it won't work. Just that we haven't seen enough yet. And they're gonna get injured. There's no question of that. Fortunately, there's some compelling depth behind the starters, on whom we may need to rely sooner than later. I love D'Ante Smith; he's a very skilled athlete and a fine football player. Trey Hill is a cog (and a 6th round coup). Carman is getting better- certainly not getting worse- which tells me these young'ins are up for the challenge. Couple that with all of them being projects of Uncle Frank, and you're now looking at a group whose professional and personal goals are all aligned. Life could be worse. To draw an analogy from the investment world, we might not have the most robust portfolio, but we've diversified away some of the risk.

I look forward to seeing them on the field.

[NATI BENGALS]

Very seasoned line to start the year with the youngins waiting for their turn. I can’t complain. A QB coming off of a major knee injury probably deserves the veteran line that gives us the best chance for sound solid play.

[*SHRacerX*]

(09-03-2021, 07:30 PM)BritishBengal Wrote: Better than last year but still far from great. The irony is I've spent so much time watching Carmen, Smith etc that I don't really know much of Spain and XSF. I really wonder if that guard pairing lasts too long.

The good thing is that neither of them were just handed the job this year, and they both know that if they aren't producing they will be replaced.  I view this as the best case scenario right now.  Veterans pushed by younger talent that will have a little bit more time to develop.  Spain played pretty well given the late addition last year and being pressed in to duty right away.  Once they had both Spain and XSF back from injury, the line was pretty solid.  

The addition of Reiff is the single greatest improvement.  His veteran presence and pass-blocking will be a significant upgrade.  

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

I like this OL and the depth is much better than I thought it would be at this time.

We will see if they clean up the penalties as that is now my main concern with the Offense.