Players:
73. Jonah Williams
71. Riley Reiff
74. Fred Johnson
70. D’Ante Smith
75. Isaiah Prince
77. Hakeem Adeniji
Offensive tackle had been a glaring weakness for the Bengals since the day Cedric Ogbuehi took over for Andre Smith in 2016, and even more so once they let Andrew Whitworth leave in free agency after that season.
The team used their first round pick in 2019 on Jonah Williams, with the expectation that he could solidify the LT spot. However, an offseason injury forced him to miss his entire rookie year. A year later, Williams finally got his chance and did not disappoint. While there were a few growing pains, he quietly came into his own and was able to match up against top pass rushers that included Myles Garrett and TJ Watt.
Now headed into his third season, Jonah Williams will once again man the LT position and will be looking to take another step forward from his promising “rookie” year.
Bobby Hart manned the RT spot for a few years and was an upgrade over Ogbuehi. He had some good games, but overall, was too inconsistent to justify bringing back, especially when they could save close to $6M by cutting him. Hart was eventually released and the Bengals later brought in veteran Riley Reiff to take his spot.
Reiff has been a starter in the NFL for close to a decade, first with Detroit and then Minnesota. Even into his 30’s, he has performed at a high level consistently. Despite being one of the better offensive linemen this past year for the Vikings, they were forced to let him go for cap reasons.
With the Bengals, Reiff will slide over to the right side after spending most of his career at LT. Nevertheless, he is expected to be a nice upgrade for a Bengals team that is desperate to protect Joe Burrow. As well, he will be able to provide some veteran leadership for the younger tackles in the room.
Hakeem Adeniji was set to compete for the swing tackle role, but an offseason pectoral injury means that he will likely miss all or most of the season. Adeniji’s injury has completely cleared the path for Fred Johnson to take hold of this spot, as the rest of the competition seems unlikely to overtake him on the depth chart, at this time. Johnson showed promise when allowed to play LT, but left a lot to be desired in his opportunities at RT and RG. With added depth at guard, he should now be able to work exclusively at tackle. If he is able to improve his game on the right side, he could prove to be a valuable depth option.
If the Bengals go with four tackles on the roster, D’Ante Smith and Isaiah Prince are left to battle it out for the final spot. The Bengals used a 4th round pick in the 2021 draft on Smith and they love his upside. You have to figure that he is the clear frontrunner. Prince, meanwhile, was a 2019 6th round pick of the Dolphins. He went on to start two games in his rookie year before being waived and claimed by the Bengals. He opted out of the 2020 season due to Covid-19, which makes it hard to tell how far along he is in his development.
If Prince fails to make the team, he is a good bet to land a spot on the practice squad, especially if the Bengals do not add more depth following league wide roster cuts.
While the depth of the position did take a hit when Adeniji went down, the current position group figures to be an upgrade from last year’s. Riley Reiff should be a nice upgrade over Bobby Hart and Jonah Williams is expected to take a step forward in his second year as a starter.