Look: Joe Burrow Injury Cements Bengals' Glaring Offensive Line Evaluation Whiffs as Rookie Contract Window Enters Final Season

Cincinnati has a broken offensive line evaluation system and the numbers bear that out.

CINCINNATI — Offensive line evaluation needs a serious overhaul in Cincinnati, from top to bottom. 

The Bengals just lost Joe Burrow for the season in Week 11 for the second time in four years and both major injuries came via pressure allowed by the offensive line.

Burrow didn't get sacked on Thursday's injury-causing hit, but that hasn't stopped him from taking the second-most of any quarterback since 2020 (148). Just look at this fantastic chart from Gridiron Grading breaking down just how poorly Cincinnati is at mixing production and athleticism up front in 2023.

Average NFL OL athleticism (by RAS) plotted against PFF production this year.

Data from @MathBomb continues to be one of the best resources out there.

I knew the Bengals line was unathletic but the reality is they’re not even close to the rest of the league.

This is damning. pic.twitter.com/OfgyNE6iye

— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) November 17, 2023

The front office has done a horrific job of putting together protection for the most important player on the team. Just look at the end-of-season O-Line rankings by PFF every year:

2020: 30th

2021: 20th

2022: 28th

2023: Currently 25th in pass blocking grade, 19th run-blocking grade

Not one year of above-average offensive line play. Yes, a small percentage of the sacks and pressures can be attributed to Burrow, but all in all, the protection (both run and pass) has never been consistently good enough to match his level of play.

The Bengals need to figure it out this offseason or his rookie-contract window will slam shut after 2024 with no Super Bowl trophy and a much harder financial picture to get there.

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