Frank Pollack drastically improves the Bengals’ o-line by himself

If you’re worried the Bengals haven’t added enough talent to the offensive line to protect Joe Burrow, there is some good news.

New/old o-line coach Frank Pollack should get far more production out of his players than his successor, Jim Turner, one of the worst coaches in the league.

Back in 2018, when Pollack was still with the Bengals, Justis Mosqueda of Optimum Scouting ranked Pollack fifth overall of all offensive line coaches since 2004, just below Bill Callahan. This means that Pollack’s lines were better in terms of sacks and tackles for a loss allowed.

Accordingly, as Joe Goodberry points out in the tweets below, Billy Price, Quinton Spain, and even Trey Hopkins earned lower pass blocking grades from Pro Football Focus under Turner than they did previously. Price and Hopkins both played under Pollack in 2018 and Turner in 2019 and 2020, while Spain spent 2018 with the Tennessee Titans and 2019 with the Buffalo Bills.

The most shocking difference between Turner and Pollack can be observed in the case of Price, who earned a respectable 66.0 pass blocking grade in 2018 before taking a nosedive in 2019 (26.1) and 2020 (29.4). Spain, meanwhile, had been above average at pass blocking his entire career before 2020.

Bengals radio personality Wayne Box Miller emphasized the considerable boost the line will get by bringing back Pollack in our interview, which you can watch below:

You can also listen on iTunes or using the player below: