Admittedly, the Cincinnati Bengals are one of the tougher teams to figure out this offseason.
On paper, they have Joe Burrow. That’s usually good enough for a team to contend. He’s elite, and so is his skill position talent. It’s pretty hard to deny the all-in nature of the offseason by the front office, too.
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And yet, questions remain. Some NFL executives polled by The Athletic’s Mike Sando before Week 1 threw out some of those, pointing fingers at the rebuilding defense and the offensive line.
“For me, it was the O-line that held me back,” an exec told Sando. “You love the skill-position talent, and the defense should take a leap, but I’m not sure they have the scheme to be elite defensively. Offensively, can they run it with Chase Brown? Do they even want to run it? Can they protect? This ain’t fantasy football.”
Bengals fans will balk at criticism of the offensive line after a strong season and the fact the same starting five return for another season for the first time in the Burrow era.
Perhaps there is some concern, though, in how shaky the line and offense looked during limited under-center work during the preseason?
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Regardless, questions about the line, the rebuilt defense and even health will require answers from the Bengals. Until that happens, polls like this that rank the Bengals seventh in the AFC right now will remain.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: NFL execs throw some serious doubt at Joe Burrow’s Bengals