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Bengals Film Breakdown: Analyzing Cordell Volson's Improvement Throughout Rookie Season

The fourth-round pick has gotten better and better this season.

Mike Santagata

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It’s hard to look back and remember but when the Bengals drafted Cordell Volson with the 136th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, it did not feel like they planned on him starting as a rookie. 

Once again they seemed to be giving Jackson Carman an inside track to take a starting guard job. Even when I watched Volson at North Dakota State, I did not see a player who could come in and start right away. He was too raw. However, Volson forced the Bengals hand and made them declare him the starter. He improved drastically in pass protection before he stepped foot on an NFL field and has improved as a player throughout this season. Let’s take a deep dive into just how the Bengals' fourth-round pick has done so far this season.

Pass Protection

Volson wasn't asked to pass protect all that often at North Dakota State, especially in true dropback scenarios. His alma mater is more of a smash mouth run game with some play action off of it. When the Bengals drafted him, I had issues with his kickslide and tendency to get his weight off of the midline and inconsistent base. Volson clearly worked on these pass sets during the offseason because by the start of the pre-season they were drastically different.

Once he started playing with a consistent base and stayed balanced in his kickslide, he proved that he could start. His mindset has always been tremendous when it comes to playing the position. Once named the starter, he has not looked back. He took that job and ran with it.

Early in the season, he faced Cam Heyward and that was a bit of a “welcome to the NFL” type of matchup.

Heyward will do that to most rookies. Volson needs to do a better job of tightening his hand placement and protecting his chest so Heyward cannot control him on the rep. Even though he had quite a few reps like this one, he still showed a foundation to build upon in this game.

Here, Volson does a good job of staying balanced in his set with a good kickslide. Heyward still gets him in the chest, but Volson shows the technical ability to get that hand off of him with a snatch trap. An offensive lineman will not be perfect throughout a game. They need the ability to recover and turn what should be a loss into a win. That’s exactly what Volson does here with the snatch trap. It’s a technique that he has utilized to great effectiveness all season and one of the calling cards of his pass protection.

Volson has gotten better at taking on power throughout the season. Some of that is due to his technical ability with the snatch trap and some of that is just the game slowing down over time. An area that has given him some issues is pass rushers using his momentum against him.

First, let’s just understand that the guys who are killing him with this are dominant pass rushers. Quinnen Williams, Grady Jarrett, and Chris Jones are three of the best pass rushers in the entire NFL. 

Not that these are the only guys who beat Volson in pass protection, but they are some of the only ones to give him a lot of trouble. One area that he needs to improve with these types of rushes is continuing to move his feet after contact. On a few of these, his feet stop dead and it leads to the rusher gaining an advantage. 

In the clip against Jones, he ends up hopping to gather himself after the club move but he needs to stay in front to redirect the Chiefs' star. His strike timing on that rep could also be better so that he punches into Jones. He’s a little bit early which lets Jones get him with a swipe move. Also, this is a little bit of his collegiate tendency to get his weight off of the midline creeping back up. 

He needs to stay more balanced in these sets so that the clubs and other moves do not have such a drastic effect. There are other areas that Volson could improve to better handle these rushes, but those are more off-season improvements. Better grip strength and core strength would help him to stay attached to the defender. Even with those improvements, these rushes may cause him some issues throughout his career just because he is not the best lateral athlete. He can shore up some of the technical areas and gain more functional strength to stay attached, but he does not have the foot quickness of a guy who can pristinely mirror a defender side to side.

An area that Volson excels at in pass protection is his ability to help his teammates. This is an area that has improved for him as the season has progressed. The last few weeks in particular Volson has become a monster when it comes to looking for work and providing help.

Volson sets the tone with these types of hits throughout the game. When he finds work and puts these defenders in the dirt it also makes them pause just a little bit when rushing. Defenders may feel like they need to protect themselves and keep an eye out for No. 67. The first example here also saves a hit on Joe Burrow. The defender was getting into good position to put a hit on Burrow, but Volson swooped in out of nowhere with one of the nastiest blocks of the season. He never seems to leave too early to make these hits or to provide help. This is strictly one of the positive areas of Volson’s game and speaks to his mentality as a player.

As can be expected from a rookie, the ability to work through stunts is still a mixed bag. It has also been an area for growth throughout the season as Volson has improved throughout the course of the season with these pickups. The longer that Jonah Williams and Ted Karras play next to the young guard, the more chemistry they develop. Each week seems to show some improvement in his ability to pass off stunts as he looks to provide more and more reps that look like this:

Volson has improved week over week in pass protection. Everything seems to move slower to him with each passing game. He’s still a rookie and someone that can be taken advantage of by very good players, but overall he provides starting quality pass protection at this point. There is room for improvement and with the drastic improvements that Volson made from college to the pros, there is no reason to think he cannot make another leap next season.

Run Blocking

Similar to his abilities as a pass protector, his run blocking has also been a mixed bag so far this season. He’s a late fourth-round rookie who was given no time to develop before being thrust into a starting role.

One area of Volson’s game that has impressed me over the course of the year is his ability to pull.

Everything about this pull is done at a high level. He rips open and moves with authority down the line to start the play. Then, he comes in under control and balanced as he crashes into the defender. Finally, he has to make sure that he gives the back and tackle a clear read on the play so he gets his helmet to the inside of the defender and slightly turns him to the outside.

This play is also a high-level pull from Volson. Here he showcases his intelligence and ability to react on the fly. Watt is trying to spill this run to the outside, but Volson provides the back with a clear read and logs him to the inside. That adjustment and turn from Volson is an underrated determining factor in whether this play works. It once again gives the wrap puller and the back a clear read to utilize because he turns and shows which way they need to go off of him.

These pulls are not the only time that Volson has shown a high level of intelligence in the run game.

Against a stunt on a zone run play, Volson gives just enough help to his center before climbing to the second level. He eventually turns the defender and provides a clear ride for the back as well, but the beginning of the play is the highlight. Commonly a rookie guard will stick on the spiking defensive tackle which provides an opening for the linebacker. Here, Volson shows a veteran level of awareness with his ability to quickly process what is happening and to provide a positive run block.

This is once again a high-level pull from Volson, the apotheosis of this play is his mentality. You can see that once he gets in a position of advantage, he drives and does not stop until the defender is on the ground. This mentality from Volson to always finish his blocks is something that cannot be taught to an offensive lineman. This is something that will serve Volson well throughout his career.

The area that needs improvement from Volson the most in the run game is sustainability on blocks. He can typically put himself in good starting position, but there are too many instances of the defender crossing his face late in the play to make the stop.

This example shows precisely some of the issues that Volson has sustaining his blocks. After initial contact, his pad level rises and he stops his feet. This allows the defender to gain control in the rep and to make a play on the back despite start in poor position. Volson could also get the inside hand to the breastplate of the defender to give himself a better opportunity to sustain this block. These issues are similar to the ones in pass protection and something that he will need to work on during his career to improve his game.

Overall as a player, Volson has impressed. He was a rookie fourth-round pick that was thrown into the fire, but he landed on his feet. He’s not providing All-Pro level play, but he has been a stabilizing force on the offensive line. His intelligence and demeanor lead the way as of now, but there is a foundation for him to improve. The Bengals seemed to have finally found their left guard after what felt like an eternity of not having an established player at that position.

Cincinnati heads to New England on Christmas Eve. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on CBS. You can watch via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

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Mike Santagata
MIKE SANTAGATA

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