For years the offensive line has been an issue for the Cincinnati Bengals. Quarterback Joe Burrow has been sacked and hit at an alarming rate thus far in his career. In his second season in the NFL, when the Bengals made the Super Bowl, Burrow was sacked a league-high 51 times in 16 games in the regular season and 19 more times in four playoff games.

Fixing that unit in the trenches has been their No. 1 goal and this offseason they may have done it. Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. was signed away from the Kansas City Chiefs, which followed an offseason in which multiple reinforcements were brought to Cincinnati.

With Brown taking over on the left side, the depth and talent on the right side have improved exponentially. Last season’s left tackle, Jonah Williams, will not be vying for the right tackle spot along with La’el Collins and Jackson Carman.

Williams has backed off the trade request he made earlier in the offseason, which has led to this three-man competition beginning. The Bengals could make life much easier for themselves by kicking Collins inside to right guard, but that doesn’t seem to be their course of action currently.

According to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic, the team isn’t expected to consider Collins as a guard. That is a bit surprising as he does have experience playing on the interior from his time with the Dallas Cowboys.

But, when taking into account who the Bengals already have at the guard spots, it does make some sense that they don’t want to mess with things there. Alex Cappa will be returning to play right guard and demotion for 2022 fourth-round pick Cordell Volson is not something that will be done as the team views him as an ascending player.

Expect the right tackle training camp battle to be something that teams around the league keep a close eye on. Offensive line depth, especially players with some versatility, will always have a market. If the Bengals aren’t considering using Collins on the interior, a trade could be on the horizon for one of that trio.