Flying Pigskin Podcast: Andre Smith brings stability to Bengals’ offensive line

Every week this year, I will be joining the cast and crew of WCPO for the Flying Pigskin podcast to take you everywhere Bengals, except inside the huddle.

The podcast will be a regular Monday afternoon feature, although this season’s opening edition aired last Friday. In case you missed it, you can access the podcast by clicking here or listening below:

The show is hosted by Tanya O’Rourke and features panelists Scott Kyser and Keenan Singleton. I joined Mo Egger, the host of Sports Talk on 1530 AM, as a guest this week, and talked about Andre Smith’s return to the Bengals and what it might mean to the health of the offensive line.

Specifically, I addressed the Bengals’ initial intention to move Smith to right guard, a position he had not played since his high school days. Trey Hopkins ended up winning that job out of training camp, and looks to be the right guard of the future for Cincinnati.

But now that Smith has settled into his role as a backup tackle on both the right and left sides, the Bengals’ offensive line has some much-needed stability.

The highlight of the podcast was Tanya’s interview with Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and his views on the outlook for this year’s team, Vontaze Burfict's suspension, winning a Super Bowl, his future, his contract negotiations and more.

The panel also discusses the long-suffering life of a Bengals’ fan, the impact to the team of the Burfict suspension, whether it is safe to be optimistic about the Bengals’ most recent draft and the future of Joe Mixon.

Finally, the panel gives predictions for Week 1’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, and for the 2017 season as a whole. Will the Bengals be going back to the playoffs again this year? Listen to the Flying Pigskin to find out some opinions and share yours in the comments!