Quite possibly the weakest link of the Joe Burrow era has been the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line. Over Burrow’s four seasons, he’s suffered two season-ending injuries, been sacked 148 times, and hit what feels like 3,000 times. In order to remedy the situation, the Bengals have spent the last two offseasons shoring up the offensive line.
Before the 2022 season, Cincinnati added Ted Karras and Alex Cappa. Before the 2023 season, the Bengals made a splash. They brought in former Kansas City Chief left tackle and Super Bowl champion, Orlando Brown, Jr.
In this year’s edition of Last Word on Sports‘ Top-40 NFL players ranking, Brown came in at 35.
Orlando Brown, Jr. Lands on Last Word on Sports Top-40 Ranking
Coming out of college, Brown was a third-round pick out of Oklahoma to the Baltimore Ravens. There, he broke into the league with just 10 appearances as a rookie with six starts. In his second year, he earned the right tackle job and started all 16 games for the Ravens. Brown played at a Pro Bowl level and helped Baltimore take home the AFC North and blocked for unanimous MVP, Lamar Jackson.
In the 2020 season, he flipped back and forth from right and left tackle for the Ravens but the team traded him off to the Chiefs instead of giving him a long-term extension. He became Kansas City’s full-time left tackle and he helped the Chiefs make it to another AFC Championship.
In his final season in Kansas City, Brown started all 17 games and was phenomenal blocking for Patrick Mahomes’ blindside and earned himself a ring.
Before signing in Cincinnati, Brown made four consecutive Pro Bowls, hence the high price tag.
In his first season with Cincinnati, he was okay and did not earn Pro Bowl honors. He took a step back as he was getting used to Burrow’s (and then Jake Browning’s) play style compared to Mahomes’. According to PFF, Brown was graded at 66.1 and gave up seven sacks across 1,058 snaps.
This year, he looks to regain his Pro Bowl form, make a formidable tackle duo with newly-signed Trent Brown, and be a mentor to first-round pick, Amarius Mims.
What Our Experts are Saying
Our resident expert Mike Kashuba compiled the rankings and gave us a run-down of the choices. For Brown, he said:
Despite not being named to the Pro Bowl for the first time in five years, Brown Jr proved he was well worth his huge contract. He may take some time to adjust to his new team, Brown Jr is a stalwart on the Cincinnati line.
Brown is heading into the second year of his four-year, $62 million deal. Protecting Joe Burrow is the key to a functional offense in Cincinnati. While the Bengals have drafted receivers well — and likely have their WR2 of the future in Jermaine Burton — 2024 will be the final year of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins together.
The Super Bowl window isn’t closing after this year but Cincinnati has to take advantage of the full stable of weapons at their disposal. The AFC is loaded once again and the Bengals can be right in the thick of things with a favorable schedule and some of the best players in the league.
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