Just what the Bengals needed: Only two teams' guard groups allowed more pressure than the Bengals' last season. Dalton Risner proved he's looking to change that in his first year in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati's offensive line has something to build on: It wasn't a perfect showing — especially in run blocking — but the Bengals should feel far better about the state of its guard tandem compared to a season ago.
The Cincinnati Bengals opened the season with a 17-16 win over the Cleveland Browns: Dive into the PFF game recap for advanced stats, snap counts, early player grades and more!
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By the end of last year’s regular season, two issues seemed to be the death knell for the Cincinnati Bengals’ playoff hopes: an inept defense and a more-than-lacking guard tandem.
The former is a positive-looking work in progress under new defensive coordinator Al Golden, and the latter may be a sudden strength. No team’s guards earned a lower PFF pass-blocking grade than the Bengals’ last season (42.6), and now, few guards will likely earn a higher mark than Cincinnati’s Dalton Risner in Week 1 of the 2025 season, pending PFF’s final reviews.
In the Bengals’ 17-16 win over the Cleveland Browns, Risner — signed just 10 days ago — was the glue that held Cincinnati’s offensive line together in the passing game. Sure, the Bengals were pushed around by Myles Garrett and company on one fourth-quarter drive, but the unit otherwise held up its end of the bargain in pass protection.
Risner surrendered just one pressure — a hurry on that three-sack series — across 24 pass-blocking snaps. Only once did a Bengals guard earn an 80.0-plus PFF pass-blocking grade in a game last season. In one game this season, Risner has matched that (80.5), pending reviews. Cincinnati’s run blocking left much to be desired, which will likely tank Risner’s PFF overall grade, but his ability to protect elite quarterback Joe Burrow was already apparent in Week 1.
Risner has never earned a sub-65.0 PFF pass-blocking grade in a season, and he let up only one sack across nearly 900 pass-blocking snaps over the past two years.
Burrow was pressured on 10 of his 29 dropbacks in the win. He had more time to throw than usual, averaging 2.92 seconds. He surpassed a 2.9-second time to throw in just three games in 2024. While it didn’t lead to any deep connections with Tee Higgins or Ja’Marr Chase against Cleveland, those chances will be there as the season wears on.
If Burrow is going to repeat as one of the NFL’s highest-graded signal-callers, he’ll need clean pockets. It’s been a point of emphasis in Cincinnati in recent years. If Risner has anything to say about it, Burrow will have plenty of time to dice up defenses this season.