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Bengals Offensive Line Cementing Among NFL's Top Half as Bye Week Rolls Forward

A complete turnaround.
Dec 14, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA;  Cincinnati Bengals center Ted Karras (64) and guard Dylan Fairchild (63) and  offensive tackle Orlando Brown (75) line up for a play during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Dec 14, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals center Ted Karras (64) and guard Dylan Fairchild (63) and offensive tackle Orlando Brown (75) line up for a play during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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The Bengals offensive line is cementing itself as one of the better blocking units in the league this season. Entering their Week 6 bye, Cincinnati is ranked 13th on Pro Football Focus's latest weekly OL ranking.

They jumped up one spot from the previous week as the continuity from last year is paying off in a big way.

"Four of the Bengals’ five starters on the offensive line have garnered PFF pass-blocking grades above 60.0, and the lowest-graded of the five, Ted Karras, has only been slightly below that mark at a 59.2. Right guard Dalton Risner is having an impressive season as a run-blocker, ranking third among right guards with an 80.7 PFF run-blocking grade," Gordon McGuinness wrote.

The raw PFF grades drive home what could be an even higher ranking. Cincinnati is now sixth in the NFL in PFF pass-blocking grade (70.8), while the run blocking leaves more to be desired (17th, 62.7 grade).

It's not just PFF that loves the Bengals' blockers; Pro Football Network has the unit ranked 12th overall in its impact rankings. They've seemingly pulled off the long-time goal of blocking competence surrounding Joe Burrow.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor knows his team can keep getting even better, including the offensive line.

"There's a lot of moments where all the units played really well and did some really good things to build on," Taylor said on Monday. "And so coming out of Week 5, I think we recognize some things that we're doing really well, and then there's a couple of things that are really easy to clean up, real easy. So the good news is it's not a concern that Oh man, this is unfixable. We got a real problem here on this part of a scheme or a player, and we don't feel that at all. It's just a couple of things that we gotta get cleaned up going into the next division game."

Cincinnati's allowed one of the five lowest pressure rates this season as well.

Check out the full rankings from PFF here.

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Russ Heltman
RUSSELL HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is on the Bearcats and Bengals beat for On SI. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH.  Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.