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The Bengals received a 'D' grade for their draft performance, particularly for failing to adequately protect quarterback Joe Burrow. The urgency of Burrow's health and career timeline highlights the importance of this issue for the team's future.
The NFL Draft has ended, and the grading season has begun. Everyone will debate which teams drafted well and which didnât. The truth is nobody really knows â and wonât â for years.
Except in Cincinnati.
We donât have that luxury with franchise quarterback Joe Burrow. His timeline isnât measured in draft cycles. Itâs measured in hits. When your franchise quarterbackâs health defines the future of the organization, the timeline collapses. The window is now.
And the numbers make that window painfully clear.
The Cincinnati Bengals offensive line prepares to take the field during warmups before the NFL Week 1 game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025.
The Bengalsâ offensive line has finished in the bottom five of Pro Football Focus grading in four of Burrowâs five seasons. Last year, they ranked 27th in passâblocking efficiency, allowing 220 pressures â including 30 sacks â on 724 passing plays. Of the seven linemen who played more than 150 snaps, not one earned a PFF grade above 65 (on a scale of 0-100).
Opinion: Dexter Lawrence deal proves Bengals are finally serious
The Bengals were graded poorly for not prioritizing protection for quarterback Joe Burrow during the NFL Draft.
Joe Burrow's health is crucial for the Bengals, as it directly influences the team's success and competitive window.
Failing to protect Joe Burrow could lead to injuries, jeopardizing his career and the Bengals' chances for success.
NFL Draft grading typically considers team needs, player selections, and how well the draft choices address weaknesses.
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The tackles â the two players who matter most â were the specific problem. Orlando Brown Jr. ranked 92nd of 140 qualifying tackles with a 58.2 grade. Amarius Mims ranked 96th, with a 57.8 overall and a 60.8 passâblock grade that placed him 80th at the position. These arenât depth players struggling in spot duty. Theyâre the starters.
In the Giants' loss to the Bengals in October 2024, Dexter Lawrence sacked Joe Burrow once and added a QB hit.
Burrow has been absorbing the consequences for years. In 2021, regular season and playoffs combined, he was sacked 70 times â the thirdâhighest total in NFL history. A wrist injury cost him the final seven games of 2023. He returned in 2024 and posted one of the great statistical seasons in league history â and still took a beating behind the same unreliable line.
Brown and Mims have been given time and opportunity. Both have graded near the bottom of their position groups in consecutive seasons. Heading into 2025, PFF ranked the Bengalsâ offensive line 31st of 32 teams, with the tackles specifically cited as players who would need to improve drastically. They didnât. Thatâs the context for evaluating what the Bengals did â and didnât do â in this draft.
And thatâs why the Bengals get a provisional D.
Cincinnati Bengals second round pick Cashius Howell speaks with media during the 2026 NFL Draft, Saturday, April 25, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati.
Before a single pick was made, Cincinnati traded its No. 10 overall selection to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence, a Pro Bowl nose tackle. The move had logic. But it locked in the direction of everything that followed. The Bengals built a draft class defined almost entirely by defense: Cashius Howell, a twitchy edge rusher; Tacario Davis, a 6âfootâ4 corner with 34âinch arms; Landon Robinson, an interior defensive lineman from Navy. They doubled down on defense and nearly forgot the needs of the offensive line.
Yes, they drafted two offensive linemen who both received positive reviews. Connor Lew, a Round 4 center from Auburn, was ranked by NFL.com as the top center prospect in the class. Scouts describe him as technically sound and highly intelligent. But two problems remain: Heâs recovering from a torn ACL suffered in October 2025, and heâs a center â not a tackle. The crisis is at the bookends. Brian Parker II, a tackle from Duke taken in Round 6, is a developmental project, not an answer.
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Lew may become a good center someday â when heâs healthy. Brian Parker may develop into a backup. But neither solves the problem that has defined and damaged this franchise for five years: two starting tackles who are among the worst at their positions in the league. Until the Bengals replace Brown and Mims with players capable of protecting Burrow at an NFL level, the offensive line remains a liability no amount of defensive investment can offset.
What makes this draft harder to swallow is what happened with the pick Cincinnati traded away.
The Giants used the Bengalsâ No. 10 to select Francis Mauigoa â a densely built, NFLâready right tackle from Miami with 42 career starts, strong play strength, and a commanding anchor. He will likely start immediately, protecting 2025 firstâround pick Jaxson Dart. New York used Cincinnatiâs draft capital to do the very thing Cincinnati refuses to do consistently: put a proven lineman in front of its quarterback.
And the rest of the AFC North followed the same logic:
⢠Cleveland drafted Spencer Fano at No. 9 â the Outland Trophy winner and unanimous AllâAmerican with the versatility to play all five positions.
⢠Baltimore drafted Olaivavega Ioane at No. 14 â the topârated guard in the draft, a heavyâhanded Penn State product who confirmed his status with a rockâsolid combine.
⢠Pittsburgh drafted Max Iheanachor at No. 21 â a raw, highâceiling tackle with size, power, and quickness. Developmental, yes, but still a firstâround investment in protection â and Pittsburgh doesnât even have a confirmed franchise quarterback.
Three division rivals â one rebuilding, one still searching for a starter â all invested firstâround capital in the most reliable insurance the sport offers. The Bengals, with a generational quarterback, invested their topâpick equivalent in a nose tackle and spent the rest of the draft focused on defense.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow wears a brace as he speaks to the media about his season ending wrist injury at Paycor Stadium Friday, November 17, 2023.
Joe Burrow lives in the pocket, not in a fiveâyear window. Injuries are cumulative. Every blindside hit compounds the ones before it. Thatâs not a football argument. Thatâs a medical one.
There is one question this column cannot fully answer: Why hasnât Burrow demanded better? He has publicly lobbied for Tee Higgins. He has pointed to the defense as the teamâs most urgent need. But about the offensive line â the unit that has put him on injured reserve and on the turf more times than any quarterback should endure â he has had nothing but praise. He has never publicly asked for what he objectively deserves. Whether that silence reflects careful lockerâroom loyalty or the discretion not to publicly air his grievances, only he knows.
So the fans are asking the question for him. Because they understand something the front office seems content to ignore: There is no next Joe Burrow. You donât rebuild around a replacement. You protect the one you have â while youâre lucky enough to still have the healthy version.
Until the Bengals commit to protecting Burrow, every offensive series will be a breathâheld exercise in hoping nothing goes wrong. And when Cincinnati lines up against its division rivals this fall, the sideline opposite them will be a realâtime reminder of what they chose not to do.
The three other teams in the AFC North protected their quarterbacks.
The Bengals didnât.
Dennis Doyle
Dennis Doyle lives in Anderson Township and is a member of the Enquirer Board of Contributors.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Burrow remains too exposed after Bengals draft | Opinion