Ted Karras says the Bengals offensive line is far ahead of where it was last offseason

The Cincinnati Bengals are looking to get off to a fast start to the 2023 NFL season, unlike the 0-2 start they had last season, and a big part of that fast start is the offensive line.

The Bengals added four new starters to the line last offseason. They signed Ted Karras, Alex Cappa, and La’el Collins in free agency, and selected Cordell Volson in the draft. They understandably got off to a slow start, allowing 12 sacks over the first four games of the season.

This year, the offensive line added only one new face in left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., and they’ve moved Jonah Williams to right tackle. Center Ted Karras believes the offensive line is far ahead of where they were at this point last offseason.

“We’re so far ahead of where we were last year, especially from an o-line perspective,” Karras told James Rapien via the Cincinnati Bengals Talk podcast. “We’ve only added one more (player). We added four last year, and just procedurally, everyone knows their assignments. I mean, Orlando (Brown Jr.) has been easy. You know, easy install for a football coach. He’s got a great football mind. I was watching the film last night. I just thought, man, we look really serious. We look really organized. And you know, I really liked the week of practice that we have.”

Mandatory minicamp took place this week, and the Bengals are looking to avoid the mistakes that led them to an 0-2 start last season, especially considering both of their first two games of the season come against division opponents.

A big part of that will be the offensive line not having to get used to playing together during the season because they’ll already be used to it. It also will help that quarterback Joe Burrow won’t be recovering from emergency surgery.

This year’s offensive line heading into training camp could be the team’s best line since Andrew Whitworth played left tackle for the Bengals. With Brown at left tackle, Volson entering his second year at left guard, Karras at center, Cappa at right guard, and Williams (or possibly Collins when he’s healthy) at right tackle, Burrow could (and should) have more time to throw and move in the pocket than he has so far in his young career. The same goes for running back Joe Mixon, who should have more room to run this year.

It’s good to see the line is getting off to the right start.