It’s fair to wonder if Billy Price will make it through the offseason with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Those Bengals aren’t ones to often throw in the towel early on big investments — which especially applies to a former first-round pick like Price.
But as Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com noted, Price’s status seems very up in the air. Comments from offensive coordinator Brian Callahan only reinforce the idea.
“Billy had moments that were good, bad,” Callahan said. “Billy is competing at the guard spots. We have guards we feel good about. Billy is part of the mix in the competition. What that means for him between now and Opening Day, I can’t tell you specifically. He has to come in and compete. We expect him to get better, too, because he has to.”
Due to injuries and other factors, Price has only technically started 18 games over the past two seasons. Most of it was discouraging too (hence the 41.8 grade at Pro Football Focus) and equally as discouraging was the fact he got bounced from center outright by Trey Hopkins.
If Price is really healthy this summer and can compete, maybe he stays in the mix at one of the guard spots. But he’s going to fight Michael Jordan on the left side and John Miller on the right and the team really likes what it has in upstarts like Fred Johnson and Isaiah Prince, who are guys potentially capable of kicking inside as depth.
None of this mentions the fact the Bengals could go out and upgrade the depth chart at guard in free agency or the draft.
After a new coaching staff pushed aside a prior regime’s first-round pick, it’s safe to wonder about Price. Ideally, he’ll get healthy and compete. But for now, any projections need to keep the question mark next to his name.
