Bengals season awards: Trench player of the year

As we continue to roll out these awards every year, some very familiar names are once again headlining the list of outstanding Bengals linemen. It wasn’t an overall exemplary season by Cincinnati’s offensive and defensive lines, but some stars shined throughout 2018.

Cast your vote and sound off on the 2018 Bengals Trench Player of the Year!

Clint Boling: In a year where the Bengals had four new starters on the offensive line, Cincinnati needed to lean on Boling once again this year. No. 65 responded well. He wasn’t overly-dominant, but became the solid presence on a weakish unit and helped to pave the way for Joe Mixon’s first career 1,000-yard rushing performance.

Geno Atkins: Another year, another Pro Bowl berth for the team’s interior lineman. Surprisingly, his 10 sacks in 2018 was only the third-highest amount of his career, but he made his seventh Pro Bowl, which is tied for second-most in franchise history (A.J. Green). Atkins also had 13 tackles for loss and 19 quarterback hits last year.

Cordy Glenn: The Bengals swung a huge trade last offseason for Glenn and he provided stability in the wake of the team’s 2015 draft flops at the position. It wasn’t a Pro Bowl-level season, but Glenn was stout in the run game and gave both starting quarterbacks solid protection often in 2018.

Carlos Dunlap: The veteran defensive lineman had a handful of big plays in 2018, while maintaining that solid, near-double-digit sack number he has averaged throughout his career. Dunlap had eight of those, along with two forced fumbles and eight passes defended—the second-most of his career.

Sam Hubbard: The rookie was third on the team in sacks with six, but his nomination on this list was more about production-per-snap. Hubbard often took a back seat to Michael Johnson and others, while his fumble recovery for a touchdown in Week 5 against Miami helped to seal the win.