A pretty amazing development has taken place Cincinnati Bengals Fans have been unprepared in recent weeks.
No, not an inability to beat good teams – Joseph Ossai keeps outpacing former first-round pick Myles Murphy.
This was particularly troubling because it seemed like Murphy, fresh from injury, was being used as one of the guys to potentially save a defensive line that has played some terrible ball this season. Ossai was a liability to the candidacy that appears to have kept him from a larger role in the past.
Instead, Ossai saw a larger increase in playing time. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo attributes this solely to his improved play.
“(Joseph) Ossai gives us great effort and gives us physicality in the run game,” Anarumo said, according to WLWT “In my opinion, he’s kind of elevated his game. No knock on Myles. (His) arrow (points) upwards. I just like what Joe does.”
At this point the line rotations feel a lot like the side thing that keeps messing up names – desperate.
If Ossai produces more than Murphy, that's great. But that's not what a team that's had a terribly difficult time securing good draft classes of late wants from a first-round pick. And it makes the future even more chaotic considering Ossai is in the final year of his contract and may not be back next season anyway.
Things like this are generally overlooked when a team is winning. But right now, things like this are under scrutiny as the team searches for answers in real time, right in front of fans.