Pickup of three free agents could bring strong protection for QB
The Bengals remade their front line when six memorable days in the trenches of March’s free agency brought them center Ted Karras, a two-time Super Bowl champ from New England, right guard Alex Cappa, another Super Bowl champion from Tampa Bay, and La’el Collins, offensive line coach Frank Pollack’s monstrous, talented right tackle from Dallas.
The offensive line that the Bengals used in last season’s postseason had three players (right tackle Isaiah Prince, right guard Hakeem Adeniji and left tackle Jonah Williams) with a combined 70 NFL games. Karras brings 93 games, Collins, 74, and Cappa, 52 — now the top three leaders on the offensive line in NFL games played — and it’s showing up in places other than the salary cap and the playbook.
“Collins has been a pro every second he’s been here,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “He’s one of the first guys in that room, in the weight room. Him and Alex and Ted have really been good up there. Just watching what we ask our guys to do in these walk-throughs and how detailed it can be to some, it can be boring and monotonous if they don’t understand how to utilize that stuff to their advantage.”
Pollack had plenty of good veterans in his room last season. They don’t come any better than center Trey Hopkins, guards Xavier Su’a-Filo and Quinton Spain and tackle Riley Reiff. But they were 29 years old, 30, 30 and 33, respectively. Su’a-Filo and Reiff were hurt and couldn’t go in the playoffs. On Opening Day, both Karras and Collins will be 29 and Cappa, 27.
“I think Riley was awesome at that last year,” Taylor said of the line leadership. “We had a lot of younger players. Xavier and Q were really good there, Trey. There have been guys that did it. But you got a new group of guys now that are coming from somewhere else, and they’ve really hit the ground running that way of doing how Frank wants it done.”
The key word there is “Frank,” as in Pollack, whose reputation as one of the league’s best line coaches stemmed from his work with the dominant Cowboys fronts late in the last decade. He’s why Collins signed with the Bengals. Pollack also brings his own 90 games from the 1990s and the Super Bowl champion 49ers as a self-made sixth-rounder.
“Frank is very demanding,” Taylor said. “The expectations are very clear. I think offensive linemen appreciate that. At the same time, when you do it right, there’s no one more excited than Frank. And so I think the players just appreciate that. He’s won a lot of championships as a player as well. He’s been in a lot of stuff like that. There’s respect there as well that he’s been through what he’s asking them to go through. He’s done it at a high level himself. He’s coached a lot of great players, been part of a lot of great teams, and he knows his stuff.”
This content is provided by the 2022 CINCINNATI BENGALS TEAM GUIDE & SEASON PREVIEW.
