Anonymous NFL executive brings up a reasonable challenge facing the Bengals' newest free agent addition
While free agency is an NFL club's best bet for filling roster needs, it's never a guarantee that a player from another team is going to be a perfect for fit for his new scheme.The Cincinnati Bengals have experienced the highs and lows of this in recent years. The talents of Trey Hendrickson, Ted Karras, […]
While free agency is an NFL club's best bet for filling roster needs, it's never a guarantee that a player from another team is going to be a perfect for fit for his new scheme.
The Cincinnati Bengals have experienced the highs and lows of this in recent years. The talents of Trey Hendrickson, Ted Karras, and Orlando Brown Jr. have all fully translated after signing with the team. Trae Waynes, Nick Scott, and Sheldon Rankins were completely different stories. Sometimes it's just not a good fit.
Cincinnati is banking on Lucas Patrick to be a good fit, but there's reason to think otherwise.
The challenge for new Bengals G Lucas Patrick
Patrick is the only new addition the Bengals have made at the guard position so far this offseason. Another is sure to come during the 2025 NFL Draft, and a fellow veteran free agent may arrive afterwards. For now, Patrick is the only external source of help the Bengals have brought in for their weakest position.
Patrick spent the 2024 season starting 10 games for the New Orleans Saints, a team that ran a notably different offense compared to the run operated by quarterback Joe Burrow in Cincinnati. Per Pro Football Focus, Patrick averaged just under 14 true pass sets per game while the man he could be replacing, Alex Cappa, averaged just over 18 per game. 90% of Burrow's pass attempts came out of the shotgun. Derek Carr, the QB Patrick protected for most of his starts, threw the ball just 65% of the time out of the gun. 66% of Patrick's run blocking snaps were on zone plays, and the Bengals kept that rate under 50% last year.
These discrepancies make Patrick a bit of a projection in Cincinnati, as pointed out by an anonymous NFL executive in a recent article by The Athletic's Mike Sando.
“They got a nice bargain signing with Lucas Patrick,” the exec told Sando, “but he just played his best football with Klint Kubiak’s system in New Orleans, which is nothing like the pure dropback game in Cincy, where they try to throw the ball all over the yard.”
It's fair to say Patrick will be making a leap from the Saints to the Bengals schematically. Interior linemen in Cincinnati are charged with straight up protection for most of Sunday as Burrow does his thing in and out of the pocket. Head coach Zac Taylor's optimism for Patrick comes from his experience against similar competition, and he believes there was at least some overlap schematically.
"He's a guy that we studied intently before the process ever started. Really felt good about how he fits in with us and so he's a guy that we're excited to bring in there and compete for the job," Taylor said of Patrick at the NFL Annual League Meeting. "I liked what I saw from the film and he played against a lot of guys that we have to face. A lot of those defensive lines. Familiarity with some of the schemes that we utilize because he's kind of been in that same ballpark of terminology and I just love his approach."
The Bengals didn't take on too much financial risk when signing Patrick to a one-year, $2.1 million deal. It's a figure that can be justified as a reserve player if things shake out a certain way in the summer. But as the lone veteran addition to the position, there is pressure on Patrick proving Taylor right and becoming a good fit for the offensive line.
Luckily, Patrick is used to switching teams and schemes. The Bengals are his third team in as many years and fourth overall. He's lasted a decade in the league for good reason, and the Bengals are relying on that being the case for at least another year.
Trey Hendrickson claps back at the Bengals on the Pat McAfee Show for a reason that becomes more clear by the day
“It’s been something that’s been a little bit frustrating. But again, this is the business of it.”
