The Bengals Just Made A GREAT Move, But They Need To Do MORE...

AtoZ Sports

John Sheeran talks about the Cincinnati Bengals' biggest position of need, and the move they need to make, to solidify it before the NFL Draft.

Transcript

00:00There is finally some news to talk about regarding the Bengals' biggest need on their roster right

00:04now but in this video I'll explain why we need to see some more news coming down the pike

00:08if the Bengals want to go into the NFL Draft in a comfortable spot.

00:14Hi again Bengals fans, Jon Sheeran of A to Z Sports Cincinnati here and now that the whole

00:18celebration for Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins signing their contracts is over and done with,

00:22we can go back to reality right now and at the moment reality is a pretty stark question for

00:27the Bengals. Who in the world is going to play guard for them? Now we do have some news on this

00:31front for the first time in what seems like forever. We have Lucas Patrick coming in town

00:35for a visit today. He most recently played for the New Orleans Saints. He's played for the Chicago

00:39Bears, the Green Bay Packers. He actually played for Green Bay when Jerry Montgomery was the

00:43defensive line coach so there's some familiarity there. And on the other side of the state you

00:47have the Cleveland Browns signing Tevin Jenkins who was linked to the Bengals pretty much all

00:51last week. He took a visit with the Seattle Seahawks. The Bengals never brought him in for

00:54a visit and when Seattle let him leave it was presumed that he probably didn't pass his physical

00:59or didn't look particularly great. So there's finally some movement on the guard market but

01:03I'm here to tell you right now that if the Bengals only go out and sign Lucas Patrick that's not

01:08enough entering the NFL draft. Now don't get me wrong, Lucas Patrick does have a place within any

01:12offensive line room in the NFL as a versatile backup. He's played all three interior offensive

01:17line spots and as a matter of fact he started more recently at left guard and center compared

01:21to right guard which he hasn't really started there since 2020. But that's where the Bengals

01:25need a starter right now ever since they let go of Alex Kappa who like a day later signed

01:30with the Las Vegas Raiders. And for these last two weeks I keep hearkening back to that move

01:34because it was very uncharacteristic for the Bengals to let go of a starter even if we all

01:39knew that that starter was going to be released and then replaced. But in the past we've seen guys

01:44like Bobby Hart, Draker Patrick, Andy Dalton even was an example, Geno Atkins, guys that were either

01:50starters on the team or like franchise cornerstones on the team that the team wouldn't

01:53actually get rid of until his replacement signed on the dotted line. And with Alex Kappa even if

01:58we all knew that he wasn't going to be on this team especially with the money that he was about

02:01to make it seemed like the Bengals were going to at least hold on to him until they found a

02:05replacement for him because if they didn't that is a huge glaring hole to leave open leading up

02:10to the NFL draft and once again Lucas Patrick is not enough to fill it right now. And ultimately

02:14I don't think it's going to be Lucas Patrick who gets penciled in to start at right guard. He's

02:18never been a full-time starter in his NFL career. He's never commanded a contract more than just a

02:22couple million dollars per year. I think the Bengals offer for him will be relative backup

02:26money similar to what Cody Ford is making so maybe you could see a situation where Lucas Patrick is

02:30now competing with Cody Ford for the starting left guard job. I think there's also implications

02:34with Kordo Volson here because Volson is scheduled to make three and a half million dollars this year

02:38and if he doesn't win a starting job that's a pretty expensive backup to have on your roster

02:42where if you can sign Lucas Patrick to maybe a million or a million and a half less than that

02:46that makes a lot more sense. Plus Patrick has experience again playing all three interior

02:49offensive line spots but that still leaves you with a big question as to who's going to start

02:53at right guard because again you can't just go into the draft with that spot wide open. The

02:58Bengals have not really left themselves with a lot of quality options here but thankfully for them

03:02there are still some guys that they should go out and get. Brandon Scherf is the obvious one right?

03:06We all know he is. Yes he's a little bit older at 33 years old but he hasn't missed a game in the

03:10last three years. He's so stout in pass protection. I also do think there's a connection here between

03:15him and Scott Peters because Peters was a consultant for Bill Callahan when he was the

03:19offensive line coach for Washington from 2015 to 2019 which was the first five years of Scherf's

03:24career and if it's not him Will Hernandez is still out there a very quality starting right guard who's

03:27coming off of a torn ACL and somehow some way Dalton Reisner continues to not get signed in

03:32the month of March which I really have no answer for. So there is still somehow a way to salvage

03:36this but if they don't and it's just Lucas Patrick or someone equivalent to him then we're going to

03:41be spending the next month talking pretty much exclusively about guards in the NFL draft.

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