Jonah Williams returns to Bengals, recognizes how offensive line has changed

When Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Jonah Williams reported for the team’s mandatory minicamp this week and returned to the Bengals’ locker room, it was a new experience for him.

For the first three years of Williams’ career, the Bengals’ offensive line was defined by turnover and inconsistency. Williams, a former first-round pick, was the face of a group that faced more criticism than almost any other position group in the NFL. 

This week, Williams saw the Bengals bring back their entire offensive line room and add left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. When Williams arrived at the team facility, he already knew everyone, and he knew how good the unit can become in 2023.

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With Williams back and preparing to move to right tackle, the Bengals’ offensive line can be one of the strengths of the team in 2023.

“This is what it takes to be good in the NFL,” Williams said. “We’re big and we’re athletic, and we’re smart. We’re a veteran group. We just have one undrafted rookie, and that’s all. We’re a veteran room that has worked together. All these guys have been in the offense for a whole year. It’s something we can build off of.”

Jonah Williams' trade request after the Bengals added Orlando Brown Jr.

After the Bengals signed left tackle Brown and decided to move Williams over to right tackle, Williams requested a trade and held out of OTAs. He plans to play out his contract year at a new position, and he was at Paycor Stadium for the Bengals’ mandatory minicamp.

Williams was always expected to return for mandatory minicamp, but he said he’s still frustrated with how the Bengals handled his offseason. Entering the offseason, Williams’ mindset was that he’d prove in training camp he deserved a contract extension and spend the rest of his career with the Bengals.  

Williams learned the Bengals signed Brown on Apple News, and he said the Bengals’ front office still hasn’t had a discussion with him about their plans for Williams’ future. He’s in a contract year in 2023, and he’s expected to play right tackle as the Bengals chase a Super Bowl ring. 

“I’m going to compete,” Williams said. “I’m going to come play. That’s what I do.”

Williams’ 2022 season ended with a knee injury, and he had a procedure during the offseason to repair his kneecap. He worked on the side with a trainer during Tuesday’s practice, going through some non-contact agility drills while the other offensive lineman went through position drills. Williams said that he’ll be 100% cleared in the next few weeks and will be full go for training camp.

The best offensive line for Cincinnati Bengals in a while

When Williams lines up next to the Bengals’ offensive line for the first time this summer, it’ll be the best unit he has ever played with.

“We look great on paper,” Bengals center Ted Karras said.

The Bengals’ offensive line used to change around Williams every season. One year, he’d try to gel with Alex Redmond, Michael Jordan and Bobby Hart. The next year, he started in the playoffs alongside Hakeem Adeniji, Isaiah Prince, Quinton Spain and Trey Hopkins. The year after that, the Bengals turned over their entire starting offensive line again. 

Around the NFL, the Bengals were known as the team that had to overcome a bad offensive line. Since Williams was a former first-round pick, he faced the most criticism.

“You don’t have an offense as much as we do if you have a lackluster offensive line,” Williams said. “The ultimate goal is just to have an offensive line that’s good enough to win the Super Bowl. That’s what we were trying to do. Some of the criticism has definitely been deserved. But if the offensive line was that bad, we wouldn’t have succeeded as much as we did.”

Williams had a poor first two weeks of the 2022 season and couldn’t stop Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett in his matchups against the All-Pro. But for the rest of the year, Williams was solid. He’ll likely even be better at right tackle, where he won’t have to face as many quick twitch edge rushers on an island as he protects Joe Burrow’s blindside.

Williams is a first-round pick who has won a lot of games, has quick feet, knows the offense as well as any lineman and usually holds his own in one-on-one matchups.  

He’ll also benefit from the continuity and the talent that the Bengals have next to him now.

“There’s talent all over the place here,” Brown said. “That allows you as an offensive lineman to go out there and be aggressive. We have a very talented offensive line room of guys who love playing the game and really enjoy going to work every day.”

Brown’s resume speaks for itself. Left guard Cordell Volson was one of the best rookie offensive linemen in the NFL last season, and his teammates view him as someone who will be a consistent presence on offensive lines for the next decade. 

Karras is the captain, covers a lot of ground very quickly and had a great 2022 season filled with moments where he made an instinctual play to drop back and pick up a free rusher. Right guard Alex Cappa might be the best lineman of the entire group.

After years where the Bengals’ offensive line had a reputation for struggling to protect Burrow, that narrative has changed with the group that the Bengals have in 2023.

“Offensive line is a high stakes position,” Karras said. “There will always be some type of criticism. That takes competitive stamina, and that’s the biggest trait we need to have. We have to compete knowing the other guy is going to best us. Sometimes you don’t win. But most of the time, we’re going to win.”