The Cincinnati Bengals received mostly big praise for the signing of Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency, landing one of the best offensive tackles in the league to protect Joe Burrow.
Despite the positives that come with the move though, there were whispers about how he’s hopped from a few different teams already and the insistence on playing left tackle.
That last point especially comes up around the NFL with team executives.
“Problem is, I think (Brown) is a right tackle,” an executive told The Atheltic’s Mike Sando. “I think he played his best football in Baltimore’s system because he was protected. In terms of being a true blue-chip left tackle, I don’t see it. But he could look better in Cincy because Burrow gets the ball out faster than (Patrick) Mahomes.”
But the nice thing about projecting Brown into Cincinnati’s offense is that some of the weaknesses he showed on the left side elsewhere might not be as prevalent with the Bengals given how fast Burrow gets the ball out and what the scheme asks of him.
That’s something that pops up elsewhere in the same discussion, with an executive telling Sando: “They are more gap-duo in their running game now after being more of a wide zone team, so he fits them more. It doesn’t really bother Burrow when the tackle loses the edge. He can avoid that. It’s when the tackle gets collapsed back into him that there is no way to escape. Orlando Brown can cover his guy up.”
The Bengals shifted the running game dramatically mid-season last year and got better results the rest of the way. All of their personnel moves for the group have reflected that, including Brown.
While the reaction is split here, most would agree the Bengals investing big in the line again for Burrow is the right move and few would argue Brown wasn’t one of the top options, so much so the Bengals didn’t think it was possible until his camp reached out to them first.
