Cincinnati Bengals Non-Playoff Team Free Agency Targets: Green Bay Packers

We’ve embarked on a series looking at free agents the Cincinnati Bengals should pursue on teams which sat out the 2017 playoffs. We close things out with the Green Bay Packers.

After reaching the playoffs every year from 2011-15, the Cincinnati Bengals fell short of the postseason for the second year in a row. To return to the postseason, free agency will play a key role.

Entering the offseason, we started with a series that highlighted players from playoff teams that the Bengals could look at in free agency. Now, the focus has turned to the other teams that weren’t in the postseason.

We’ve previously taken a look at players from the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Ravens, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets,Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, and New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears, and Detroit Lions. We bring this exercise to a close with the Green Bay Packers.

Jahri Evans, OG

Throughout most of his career, Evans has been one of the best players at his position. While it was always the skill position players who got the glory, spotlight, and headlines since Drew Brees and Sean Payton arrived to overhaul the fortunes of New Orleans, Evans was an integral piece of the equation from the start.

For more than a full decade (2006-16), New Orleans was a record-setting offense which was elite in numerous facets. Look at any standard metrics, and they are either leading the way or firmly entrenched among the best. Dive into advanced metrics, the same outcome applies. Case in point: Football Outsiders’ Offensive DVOA metric (which accounts for the level of the opposition) places New Orleans no lower than 12th in any of those years, in the top ten in nine of them, and in the top five four separate times.

That success was aided massively by Evans. The height of Brees is often mentioned when discussing the differences between him and other elite quarterbacks for good reason: at 6-0, he’s below the ideal standard height for the position (usually somewhere in the 6-3 to 6-5 range). A few inches doesn’t seem like much, but for a position which has to look over the top of hulking linemen on every single passing play, it makes a difference. Notice how he tilts his head up when he looks downfield; he’s trying to get every millimeter of sight possible.

That is why Evans was always so important there. Having high-level play from the area right in front of the quarterback always matters, but it is even more important for someone with that height hindrance playing a role. If the pocket collapses into him from the front, he has less of an ability to clearly see downfield to complete a play; that’s how errant throws and turnovers happen.

Through his New Orleans years, Evans was the mainstay of the blocking unit. Other quality guys teamed with him to make dominant guard combos (Carl Nicks from 2008-11, Ben Grubbs from 2012-14), but it was always Evans who was the better of the bunch. His best work came in those first two seasons with Nicks (2008-2009), where he was 0.2 percentage points away from having a 90+ Pro Football Focus Edge grade each year, but he also has five other seasons with grades of at least 82.8.

Now, Evans obviously is not that level of player anymore. Injuries have started taking games away from him; after being active for every game in his first seven seasons, he’s missed seven since. It hasn’t been at an alarming rate (barely one per season), but to the point where missing a couple games a year should be an assumption which is planned around.

More importantly, the skills are declining. After just one season from 2006-2013 where his PFF grade was below an 80 (the cutoff between average and above average in their metrics), he’s been stuck in that range for the past four seasons. Last season with Green Bay was by far his worst showing (71.7 overall PFF grade).

There could still be something to work with here, however. While he’s not who he once was, he can work as part of a solid unit — something Green Bay was not close to being last season. They had 10 different players take snaps on their line in 2017; nine of those players took at least 200. Only one of that group was above-average or better (David Bakhtiari), and Evans was the only other player who was at least average. With so many players cycling in and out, there was no chance for continuity for a unit which relies on that more than any. It also probably didn’t help that Aaron Rodgers missed half the season, forcing the group to block for a backup quarterback who would make a habit of struggling to reach triple digits in passing yards each week.

Even despite all those problems, Evans was still decent as a pass blocker (77.4 PFF pass block grade) and key in the Packers keeping alive slim playoff hopes leading into December. By himself, he isn’t making a difference; as one of many pieces, however, he can still help.

Next: NFL Power Rankings: Cousins, free agency change things

Cincinnati may not seem like the ideal spot for someone like that. If you saw last season how bad things got on their own line, bringing in someone who needs help to succeed sounds scary. You must take into account that the 2017 line is not the 2018 line, and the plan to fix it probably means numerous changes. The unit already has two new faces (Bobby Hart and Cordy Glenn); it’d be foolish to have those be the only two changes made.

Either through free agency or the draft, a few names should be added into the mix; make Evans one of them, and the ceiling for the unit is likely improved.