Bengals beat writers Jim Owczarski and http://www.ravensshopsofficial.com/baltimore-ravens-ray-rice-womens... Paul Dehner Jr. discuss how the Bengals plan to use offensive lineman Cedric Ogbuehi in 2017. The Enquirer/Kareem Elgazzar
Cedric Ogbuehi couldn’t escape it, and could only admit it as he walked out of Paul Brown Stadium the day after the season ended.
“2016 was a s--- year," he said.
It began inauspiciously in the spring when an injury knocked him out of early practices. Then in the preseason, he injured a toe in the first exhibition game and did not see the field again until the season opener in New York on Sept. 11.
Five weeks later in New England, he was http://www.teamcardinalsprostore.com/purchase-2017-new-cheap-corey-... pulled off the field, beginning a rotation with veteran Eric Winston.
Ultimately Ogbuehi ceded the position entirely and didn’t play a week while transitioning back to left tackle. He landed a start there on Christmas Eve when left guard Clint Boling’s season-ending injury forced Andrew Whitworth inside. Ogbuehi gave up two sacks in Houston and then ended the year on injured reserve with a torn rotator cuff.
As the year wore on, two things became clear for the 2015 first-round pick.
One, consecutive years with no true spring practice or full training camp and preseason caught up to him and contributed to struggles that had Pro Football Focus rank him 70th out of 76 eligible tackles in pass protection.
The early part of Ogbuehi’s rookie season was spent rehabbing from a torn knee ligament suffered in his final college game. Then the maladies before the start of this year.
“I haven’t had an offseason yet,” he said. “I haven’t had OTAs. I haven’t been in OTAs or minicamp for a full year. I haven’t had an offseason where I can just work on technique and not have to rehab.”
And two?
“I also know I’m not a right tackle,” he said
“Not playing right tackle is going to be a big thing for me. That’s not my position. It’s not comfortable. I know against the Texans I gave up two sacks but besides the two sacks, out of 41 pass plays, my guy was nowhere near the quarterback. But those two plays were sacks so I’ve got to fix that.”
Bengals' End of Season Awards
In Ogbuehi's mind, that game was a Cornellius Carradine Jersey turning point for him. So much so that he sought out Marvin Lewis when the team returned to Cincinnati.
"Even though maybe we would have graded it a little differently, his grade for himself on the curve he felt pretty good about and that's good," Lewis said on Beyond The Stripes. "He came in literally on Tuesday morning a much more confident football player. And that was exciting. I mean, he came – when I went upstairs to talk to Mike (Brown) and I just said I had the best conversation I’ve had in weeks with Ced Ogbuehi. He came in, he was very confident. He said I’m going to be a great tackle in this league. I said Ced, that’s why we brought you here. I pointed to the room next door, which is the O-line room, I said that’s what everybody in that room wants, that’s what everybody in this entire Cortez Kennedy Womens Jersey building wants. That's what we drafted you for. So that was good. Then all of a sudden he goes out and injures his shoulder in practice and he’s on IR."