Now the question is if Orlando Brown Jr. can get back to his former four-time Pro Bowl level after an injury-riddled 2024 campaign and if Amarius Mims can pick up where he left off after an impressive rookie season. Center Ted Karras also is in a contract season with something to prove.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Let’s take a look at the past performances of the Bengals’ offensive linemen, and how they are expected to stack up in 2025 with help from some analysis and data from Pro Football Focus.
This is the fourth in a series of pieces breaking down each position group for the Bengals. Next up: Defensive line.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN ON THE ROSTER
Projected starters: LT Orlando Brown Jr., LG Lucas Patrick, C Ted Karras, RG Dylan Fairchild, RT Amarius Mims
Reserves: Devin Cochran, Cody Ford, Jaxson Kirkland, Matt Lee, Cordell Volson
Others in the mix: Andrew Coker, Caleb Etienne, Tashawn Manning, Seth McLaughlin, Jalen Rivers, Andrew Stueber
BROWN JR. BY THE NUMBERS
2024 stats: Started 11 games but missed six contests due to knee and fibula injuries. Allowed three sacks, 20 pressures and had a career-high eight penalties. Helped block for the league’s top passing offense.
PFF grades for 2024: Brown ranked 92nd of 140 qualifying tackles with an offense grade of 58.2 last year. He was 52nd in pass block grade (69.5) and 121st in run black grade (49.7).
PFF ranking for 2025: Brown was not ranked among the top 32 offensive tackles going into 2025.
PATRICK BY THE NUMBERS**
**Stats with New Orleans Saints
2024 stats: Played 11 games with 10 starts and didn’t allow a sack in 330 pass block snaps. Had six penalties, allowed 10 pressures but no hits.
PFF grades for 2024: Patrick ranked 54th of 136 qualifying guards with an offense grade of 64.6 last year. He was 79th in pass block grade (60.3) and 48th in run black grade (66.3).
PFF ranking for 2025: Patrick was not ranked among the top 32 offensive guards going into 2025.
KARRAS BY THE NUMBERS
2024 stats: Started all 17 games and has started 53 consecutive games at center for the Bengals, lining up for 99.5 percent of offensive snaps in that span (3514 of 3533). He recorded three penalties and allowed two sacks, six hits and 23 total pressures last season.
PFF grades for 2024: Karras ranked 26th of 64 qualifying centers ranked by PFF with a 64.1 offense grade. He was seventh in pass block grade (78.0) and 48th in run block grade (54.9).
PFF ranking for 2025: He ranks as the 18th best center in the league going into 2025.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
FAIRCHILD BY THE NUMBERS*
*College stats at Georgia
2024 stats: Started all 14 games, allowing just one sack in 536 pass blocking snaps, mainly playing left guard. Allowed one hit and nine total pressures and recorded four penalties.
PFF grades for 2024: Fairchild ranked 42nd of 639 qualifying guards with an offense grade of 74.6 last year. He was 20th of 584 qualifying guards in pass block grade (87.0) and 65th of 563 qualifying guards in run black grade (71.8).
PFF ranking for 2025: N/A
MIMS BY THE NUMBERS
2024 stats: Appeared in 15 games with 13 starts at right tackle as a rookie, playing 834 offensive snaps and helping pass protect for an offense that led the NFL in net passing yards per game (272.9). Allowed four sacks, five hits and 33 total pressures after taking over for Trent Brown.
PFF grades for 2024: Mims ranked 96th among 140 qualifying tackles with an offense grade of 57.8 last year. He was 80th in pass block grade (60.8) and 110th in run black grade (52.6).
PFF ranking for 2025: Mims was not ranked among the top 32 offensive tackles going into 2025.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
FURTHER ANALYSIS
The Bengals’ offensive line finished the 2024 season ranked as the third worst offensive line in the league, according to PFF. Of the seven offensive linemen who played more than 150 snaps for them, none earned PFF overall grades above 65.0, and Cincinnati ranked 27th in PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating (82.7) after allowing 220 pressures — including 30 sacks — on 724 passing plays.
Karras proved the most consistent player, ranking fourth among centers in pass-blocking grade, and he was the only Bengals offensive lineman recognized among the top 32 at his position by PFF going into 2025. He was ranked 18th on Mason Cameron’s list of top centers.
“Although the veteran’s run-blocking profile has steadily declined since he landed in Cincinnati, he remains one of the most polished pass blockers at the position,” Cameron wrote. “Across his past three seasons, Karras ranks above the 90th percentile in all of PFF’s stable pass-blocking metrics, including his 71.5 PFF pass-blocking grade on true pass sets.”
There’s optimism in-house around the improvements to the offensive line under new position group coach Scott Peters, but Brown hasn’t been at Pro Bowl form in two years with the Bengals and Mims still has to prove he can stay healthy and consistent over the course of a full season. The biggest question is if they did enough to upgrade the interior.
PFF analysts don’t seem to think they did. In fact, the site still projects Cordell Volson at left guard and Cody Ford at right guard for 2025, and in an article grading each team’s offseason, PFF gave Cincinnati a C+ in part because of the “major questions” in the interior offensive line. Ford very well could end up starting for the Bengals, but it seems Fairchild is poised to be the starting right guard after earning rave reviews from players and coaches this offseason.
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