Volson, a 2022 fourth-round draft pick out of FCS power North Dakota State, won the left guard competition last training camp and will be looking to build off a solid rookie season, and the depth on the line should be much better with Cody Ford also joining the mix.
Let’s take a look at the past performances of the Bengals’ offensive linemen, and how they are expected to stack up in 2023 with help from some analysis and data from Pro Football Focus. This is the third in a series of pieces breaking down each position group for the Bengals. Next up: Defensive line.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN ON THE ROSTER
Projected starters: Orlando Brown Jr., Cordell Volson, Ted Karras, Alex Cappa, Jonah Williams
Reserves: Hakeem Adeniji, Jackson Carman, Cody Ford, Trey Hill, Max Scharping, La’el Collins (injured)
Others in the mix: Ben Brown, Devin Cochran, Nate Gilliam, Jaxson Kirkland, D’Ante Smith
BROWN BY THE NUMBERS
2022 stats: Blocked for the league’s top passer and finished with four sacks allowed and six penalties, playing every offensive snap for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
PFF grades for 2022: Brown ranked 19th of 81 qualifying tackles with an offense grade of 75.4 last year. He was 21st of 78 tackles in pass block grade (76.8) and 28th of 79 tackles in run black grade (68.8).
PFF ranking for 2023: He is ranked as the No. 14 offensive tackle of PFF’s top 32 going into 2023.
VOLSON BY THE NUMBERS
2022 stats: Blocked for the league’s fifth-best passing offense (second most passing TDs) and seventh most productive offense overall and played every offensive snap. Had five penalties and five sacks allowed.
PFF grades for 2022: Volson ranked 64th of 77 guards with a 53.7 offense grade. He was 60th of 74 guards in pass block grade (52.7) and 53rd of 75 guards in run block grade (55.0).
Not ranked for 2023
KARRAS BY THE NUMBERS
2022 stats: Blocked for the league’s fifth-best passing offense (second most passing TDs) and seventh most productive offense overall and played 99 percent of the offensive snaps. Had three penalties and two sacks allowed, starting all 16 regular-season games.
PFF grades for 2022: Karras ranked 15th of 36 centers ranked by PFF with a 65.1 offense grade. He was fourth of 37 center in pass block grade (76.1) and 25th of 35 centers in run block grade (58.7).
PFF ranking for 2023: PFF has not ranked centers.
CAPPA BY THE NUMBERS
2022 stats: Blocked for the league’s fifth-best passing offense (second most passing TDs) and seventh most productive offense overall. Had two penalties and three sacks allowed, starting all 16 regular-season games.
PFF grades for 2022: Cappa ranked 22nd of 77 guards with a 67.6 offense grade. He was 21st of 74 guards in pass block grade (71.4) and 33rd of 75 guards in run block grade (62.3).
PFF ranking for 2023: He is ranked as the No. 18 offensive guard in PFF’s top 32 going into 2023.
WILLIAMS BY THE NUMBERS
2022 stats: Played left tackle last year but will switch to right tackle in 2023; blocked for the league’s fifth-best passing offense (second most passing TDs) and seventh most productive offense overall. Had four penalties and 12 sacks allowed, starting all 16 regular-season games.
PFF grades for 2022: Williams ranked 61st of 81 qualifying tackles with an offense grade of 61.0 last year. He was 59th of 78 tackles in pass block grade (62.8) and 70th of 79 tackles in run block grade (51.0).
Not ranked for 2023
FURTHER ANALYSIS
PFF has the Bengals offensive line unit ranked 17th, up 11 spots from last year and noted that “Orlando Brown Jr. has the potential to propel this offensive line forward after the team already did some nice work to improve the unit last offseason.”
Sam Monson, who wrote PFF’s analysis breaking down each team’s offensive line, also noted that Brown had an overall PFF grade of at least 68.6 in every season of his career” and while Williams had a rough year at left tackle, he will be motivated to “rebuild his reputation in a contract year on the right side.”
Brown was listed as the Bengals’ best offensive lineman, and in another article in which PFF broke down the strengths and weakness of each team, Cincinnati’s O-line unit was named the organization’s “X-factor.”
“Despite spending a lot of money on the offensive line in the 2022 offseason, the Bengals hardly improved as a unit. This offseason, they added Super Bowl champion Orlando Brown Jr. to man the blind side. While Joe Burrow does thrive in the quick passing game, being able to give him more time to dissect opposing defenses could make an already dangerous passing attack unstoppable.”
The notion the unit didn’t improve in 2022 is a bit harsh, as Burrow’s sacks went down from 51 during the 2022 regular season to 41 in 2023 and his pressure percentage per dropback was down from 24.5 percent in 2021 to 16.5 percent in 2022. Part of that was a quicker release in the pocket but his hurries cut in half.
Regardless, the addition of Brown — and Williams’ transition at right tackle — will be key for the offense reaching another level in 2023.
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