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.
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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.