Are Zac Taylor, Bengals doing enough up front to protect their investments?

PALM BEACH, Fla. — As Zac Taylor sat down 10 minutes before the AFC coaches’ breakfast was slated to begin at The Breakers Palm Beach, by no surprise the first question was about the massive contracts given to Tee Higgins and  Ja’Marr Chase.

More followed about Trey Hendrickson’s extension uncertainty, of which Taylor purposely added nothing new, then a barrage of questions about the influence of franchise quarterback Joe Burrow.

The Bengals’ offensive stars now have the money to pair with the headlines.

“I’m excited to know we got these guys back, and they feel good about how they are compensated,” Taylor said. “We want to walk on the field and teams to feel us offensively. You want them to feel like this is going to be a long day for us.”

But as the dust settled and all eyes focused on 2025 at the annual league meetings, a bigger question weaved through a 55-minute, early-morning session.

Have the Bengals done enough to protect these investments?

That means, specifically, will the offensive line be good enough for the Big Three to pay off?

While Taylor had many answers this morning, he couldn’t make two starting-caliber guards appear to fill in the open starting spots on the roster. In fact, he said the Bengals are not likely to sign another guard in free agency before the draft.

“I think we got competition there,” Taylor said. “It would be foolish of me to speak before the draft. Let the draft shake out … and then evaluate where we are at.”

Zac Taylor puts in a marathon shift as first one in and last one out at the coaches breakfast.

Across 55 minutes, he hit a ton of ground.

Here’s a few #Bengals notes that stood out: pic.twitter.com/BaTNYWeSjP

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) March 31, 2025

Maybe an addition comes after the draft, but for now, the competition is between Cody Ford, Cordell Volson, Jaxson Kirkland and Lucas Patrick with new offensive line coach Scott Peters — taking over for Frank Pollack — trying to make it all work.

Ford impressed the staff last year while filling in at tackle and re-signed for that reason, but he is a career backup. Volson was benched mid-season. Kirkland is an undrafted free agent from 2023 with two games played and a season-ending injury that thwarted a promising start last August. The team signed the 31-year-old Patrick. He’s started 64 games, and the personnel staff pinpointed him early in the process as a potential fit.

“He’s a guy we studied intently before the process ever started and really felt good about how he fits in with us,” Taylor said. “We get into the film and I liked what I saw from the film. He played against a lot of guys we have to face. Lot of those defensive lines. Familiarity with some of the scheme we utilized, in the same ballpark of terminology and just love his approach. He’s an undrafted free agent from Duke, had to earn everything he’s gotten. Reminds me of the type of guys we want to bring into the room to help enhance the culture there, will fight tooth and nail to get the job done.”

Veteran Lucas Patrick signed a one-year deal with the Bengals and will compete for a starting guard job. (Stephen Lew / Imagn Images)

There will almost certainly be an addition to the competition through the draft, likely coming with a premium pick.

Taylor recognized these competitions sandwiched between Orlando Brown Jr., Amarius Mims and Ted Karras can’t be the only change.

A large portion of the offseason is spent working with projection, scheme tweaks and play style. Consensus: They must find ways to make the offensive line’s job easier.

“Our overall team play style has got to be better,” Taylor said. “We put ourselves in a position early in the game to call the game the way we need to do it. Getting stops early in the game on defense where the offense can put points on the board and have some control. That allows us to take the pressure off the defense. That allows us to run the ball more, call different play actions. Too often we were in the second half and every possession was do or die. When it’s do or die, we have our area we turn to as much as anybody.”

In the highest-leverage moments, they turn to Burrow, a quarterback who thrives with five eligible receivers out in the route. That’s how Burrow posted MVP-caliber numbers and the offense ranked top five in the league in all the major efficiency categories.

It wasn’t always most conducive to winning or minimizing interior offensive line concerns.

“The game situation helps,” Taylor said. “I’m always willing to improve to take pressure off the offensive line. Because we do put a lot of pressure on those guys. When you’ve got a quarterback that is as accurate and sees it as well as we do and receivers we have, then oftentimes a great way to do it is get as many eligibles out as you can. When you are doing that, there’s only so many protections you can call. We certainly do recognize you have to take the pressure off the linemen. There are some things we can continue to do more of that will help that.”

The Bengals dropped back more than any season under Taylor last year and the pressures racked up by the offensive line (PFF) reflect it.

Yes, all this passing makes the offensive line’s job more difficult. Despite a rightful reputation as the most pass-happy play-caller in the NFL, Taylor recalled that some of his favorite drives as head coach have been run-heavy ones to close out victories.

He cited a 17-play, 94-yard drive that ended taking a knee on the 2-yard line against Atlanta in 2022. Running down the clock late at Carolina in Week 4 last year. Or games where they protected leads in San Francisco or against Kansas City and Baltimore.

Taylor wants to utilize more of that. Jumping out fast on teams allows for more play action and marrying of the run and pass that keep defenses off-balance.

The Bengals spent the 2023 offseason focused on finding more ways to marry the run and pass out of the shotgun, where it’s inherently more difficult to do. It created a base of plays that fit Burrow’s style and the offense’s need to threaten the run more often.

Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher utilized new scheme tweaks through trend research last offseason that paid off by creating explosives, pulling offensive linemen across as part of the deep passing game, among other more subtle additions.

He’s on the hunt for those advantages again, with arrows pointing toward creating big plays and clean pockets without placing all stress on one-on-ones.

“Pitch does great work in this area, blending this together, studying how other teams are doing it,” Taylor said. “This is how other teams are doing it. I think it fits what we do. There is a lot of work that goes into it.”

Eventually, linemen have to win. The Bengals are notably light at guard, no question, but they can minimize risk by winning in the schematic margins.

More importantly, they must hit in this draft.

The last time the Bengals gave one of their offensive line draft picks a second contract was 2011 fourth-rounder Clint Boling. They have drafted 20 offensive linemen since.

Perhaps last year’s first-round pick Mims will break that streak, but it’s long past time for Cincinnati to start a new streak going the other way. It’s the only way to properly protect the investments considering the inherent restrictions placed upon them.

“Everyone has been aligned with everyone we’ve taken,” Taylor said. “Now it is getting more production out of those guys. I think of what we’ve done and the lack of guys we have rewarded with second contracts there out of that room, there is truth there. We have to do a great job if we decide to take one, identifying the guy that fits what we want to do and get the most out of them from a development standpoint.”

The pressure to deliver a productive pick has never been greater.

Projection, scheme fit, play style, firing coaches and polishing up third-wave free agents can only take on so much of the investment protection.

(Top photo of Joe Burrow: Sam Greene / Imagn Images)