While the Cincinnati Bengals had a strong offensive performance throughout their 2024 campaign, the offensive line was still holding them back. The five guys up front finished 30th in run-block win rate (68%) and 32nd in pass-block win rate (50%).
That's why Cincinnati signed guard Lucas Patrick to a one-year, $2.1 million deal and allowed guard Alex Cappa and offensive tackle Trent Brown to leave in free agency.
In the 2025 NFL draft last week, the Bengals targeted addressed the offensive line even more, taking Georgia guard Dylan Fairchild in the third round (No. 81 overall) and Miami guard Jalen Rivers in the fifth (No. 153 overall).
Despite these changes, Cincinnati may look to add more to the group before they get to far into their offseason program, and interestingly, the 33rd Team's Ian Valentino recently identified them as the best fit for veteran guard Brandon Scherff.
"There will always be demand for competent blockers, so it's surprising when impactful ones sit on the market for a while," Valentino wrote. "Brandon Scherff is looking for the right situation to come back for, and the draft was revealing. Despite signing veteran Lucas Patrick and adding third-rounder Dylan Fairchild, Cincinnati is still the best landing spot."
Scherff, 33, played collegiately at Iowa from 2010-14, earning All-Big Ten honors twice and All-American Honors once during his time with the Hawkeyes.
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Washington selected Scherff in the first round (No. 5 overall) of the 2015 NFL draft and made him their starting right guard as a rookie. In his seven seasons with the team, he made the Pro Bowl four times and earned All-Pro honors once.
Scherff inked a three-year deal with the Jaguars in 2022 and went on to start all 51 possible games for the franchise over the last three seasons. This past year, Pro Football Focus gave him a 64.7 overall grade for his efforts, ranking him 53rd out of 136 qualified guards in 2024. He also received a 74.5 pass-blocking grade (19th) and a 57.3 run-blocking grade (97th).
If the Bengals bring in Scherff to be their right guard and have Patrick battle with Fairchild, Rivers and Cordell Volson for left guard, the offensive line would be significantly improved from last year when Cappa and Volson were the starters.
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