The Cincinnati Bengals will attack a variety of needs in both free agency and the draft soon.
One of the big problem areas (deja vu time), of course, rests along the offensive line. The team has a question mark at right tackle with La’el Collins rehabbing an injury and a quality depth problem that popped up during last year’s postseason.
Many names exist as options, though while analyzing the best free agent fits for all 32 teams, ESPN’s Aaron Schatz mentions one not often seen linked to the Bengals — Ravens guard Ben Powers:
Left guard is their weakest offensive line position and would be significantly upgraded by taking Powers away from the rival Ravens. Powers ranked fourth last season in SIS points earned. He was second in run block win rate and 10th in pass block win rate (PBWR). The player he would be replacing, Cordell Volson, was 53rd and 60th, respectively.
Powers, 26, is a former fourth-rounder who played all 17 games last year and earned a 62.9 PFF grade, getting called for just one penalty and allowing zero sacks.
It will be interesting to see if the Bengals agree on upgrading from Volson after his fine rookie campaign. More stability from left tackle, where coaches say Jonah Williams won’t move from, might help him as a sophomore. Coaches have also said they like four out of the five line spots, with right tackle the outlier due to the injury.
Still, the Bengals blatantly need better depth across the board and adding competition like Powers would help. He’d feel like a Ted Karras-type signing to really boost the whole unit.
