Bengals Tried Moving Anthony Collins To Guard; Lewis Feels Good About Guard Situation

One of the more interesting nuggets during Marvin Lewis' sit down with the Cincinnati media on Friday, which follows the national press conference, is that Cincinnati's head coach mentioned that the Bengals had already explored moving Anthony Collins from tackle to guard in the past. No idea how long ago that attempt was made, but ultimately it proved a failure because he "didn't quite understand it."

Though Lewis hopes that Collins returns, the head coach explored the interior line on Friday.

"I feel good about (our guard situation)," said Lewis. "We have some guys in the bank and last year we didn’t know who those guys were. Otis Hudson had an outstanding training camp for us before he got injured. We drafted Clint (Boling). He started for us. We solidified the center with Kyle Cook. We’re in no situation where we’re having to panic and do this. Nate (Livings) is a free agent. We have an opportunity to get Nate back. We brought in (Mike) McGlynn who filled a void between center and guard. I think we’re in pretty good shape.

One has to hope to God Lewis is in coaches-speak mode, offering optimistic forecasts even during the direst of scenarios. However the praise on Hudson has been consistent dating back to training camp when Paul Alexander named him the second-most improved lineman behind offensive tackle Andre Smith. There was a strong belief last summer that Hudson would become Bobbie Williams eventual replacement. And it sounds like that plan is still on the table.