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Cincinnati Bengals: Players to watch vs. Ravens in Week 17

By Kenn Korb

CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 01: Carl Lawson #58 of the Cincinnati Bengals reacts to a play in the first half against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 1, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Aller /Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 01: Carl Lawson #58 of the Cincinnati Bengals reacts to a play in the first half against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 1, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Aller /Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – DECEMBER 24: Head coach Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrates with Alex Redmond #62 after the game against the Detroit Lions at Paul Brown Stadium on December 24, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – DECEMBER 24: Head coach Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrates with Alex Redmond #62 after the game against the Detroit Lions at Paul Brown Stadium on December 24, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

2. Alex Redmond/Christian Westerman

You may not have ever noticed, but these two young guards have been on the team for awhile now. Entering this season neither had actually even played a single snap for the Bengals however, and much of this year has continued that trend. The game against Detroit changed that. Each of these guys managed to play a significant portion of the contest in what was easily their biggest and best opportunities to prove themselves thus far in their careers.

It was a mixed bag. Westerman got the first 39 snaps of his professional career under his belt, and his success depended almost entirely on play type. As a pass blocker, he was pretty good (78.7 Pro Football Focus Edge grade for Pass Blocking on 21 snaps). As a run blocker though, he was astonishingly bad (32.5 PFF grade for Run Blocking on 18 snaps).

Redmond meanwhile put in a truly impressive performance. Unlike Westerman he actually entered this game with some 2017 action under his belt (albeit not much: 29 snaps across 3 random games), and his play showed he should be given a legitimate chance to be part of the future here this offseason. He came out of this game with the best performance of any single offensive player on the Bengals (84.2 PFF grade).

One game alone shouldn’t decide the futures of either player of course, but it is all we have to go off in their still-early careers. Luckily for us, we should have at least one more week of information to add to the pile on them both, and it should be the type of test that can really show us what these guys are made of.

Baltimore has one of the better defensive lines in the league this season — a group strong in both aspects of the game. They currently are top ten against both the run and pass in Football Outsiders’ Defensive Line ratings, and the rotation is deep with talented individuals.

Assuming both of these guys get to play again, they’ll likely be seeing a ton of time against not only veteran Brandon Williams (84.5 PFF overall grade), but young players Michael Pierce (83.9 PFF overall grade) and Willie Henry (80.4 PFF overall grade).

If they can hold their own, the Bengals may have a chance to keep some of that offensive balance we saw last week. A successful effort from either could end up being the determining factor as to who sticks around heading into 2018.

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