The Cincinnati Bengals turned some heads with fans when first-round pick Jonah Williams lined up at left tackle to start rookie minicamp.
Fans should expect more of the same when OTAs begin Monday.
The Bengals have been adamant since the draft that additions like Williams give them a chance to put their best five on the field. They won’t figure out what that lineup exactly is unless they experiment in May.
“We have the flexibility to give us the five best players where ever they fit. It’s going to be really hard to know that until we put pads on. The pads are always the great equalizer,” offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Monday is not a foreshadowing of week one in September. We’re going to mess with a bunch of different combinations. Where we start on Monday could very well be where we start come September. It could very well not. A lot of football between now and then.”
Williams at left tackle caused some noise because the spot normally belongs to Cordy Glenn, the guy the Bengals traded for last year to fix that exact spot.
But things change quickly in the NFL. If Williams ends up doing well enough to nail down a starting role, Glenn will have to shift to a guard spot or perhaps right tackle.
With all 91 players in town starting Monday, it will still be interesting to see who lines up where and how they perform, especially with a free agent like John Miller and a promising rookie like guard Michael Jordan also in the mix.
Callahan is right though — May is May and pads don’t go on until August.
