The Cincinnati Bengals dragged the decision out until Friday and ultimately still didn’t make anything official — but it sure sounds like they think Alex Redmond is the answer at right guard next to Bobby Hart.
Cincinnati had experimented with Fred Johnson at right guard over the last few weeks to disastrous results while they await the return of Xavier Su’a-Filo.
Zac Taylor met with the media Friday and said he won’t officially announce who gets the start at right guard, but according to The Athletic’s Jay Morrison, the head coach signaled that Redmond is going to be one of the guys they promote off the practice squad.
ESPN’s Ben Baby added the following:
Based on that call with Zac Taylor, I expect Alex Redmond to get the start at RG against JAX this weekend.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) October 2, 2020
Redmond was one option to fill the short-term vacancy, though the fact the team had waived him and later brought him back — plus his 50.6 PFF grade last year — didn’t make it seem like the best option. The team had also called up Keaton Sutherland from the practice squad.
If the Bengals weren’t willing to look outside the building to fix this dramatic issue, they still needed to do something after Johnson’s 48.8 PFF grade. Billy Price played at the spot for the second half in Week 3 and…registered a grade of 38.8.
Cincinnati’s refusal to look outside the building on this front, plus Jim Turner getting aggressive in defending some of his players, looks like a sign of much bigger problems for the Bengals.
For now, the hope is a cobbled-together line can keep Joe Burrow safe against a Jacksonville pass-rush featuring Josh Allen and others.
