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In 2010, when Luke Joeckel, Jake Matthews and Cedric Ogbuehi were all highly touted incoming Freshman Left Tackles for Texas A&M, it was anybody's guess who would win the job.
Well, Joeckel won the Starting LT job, Matthews won the Starting RT job, and Ogbuehi won himself a red-shirt.
Joeckel went on to leave A&M after his Junior year and was the #2 overall pick in the 2013 draft. He's been a major disappointment for the Jaguars, who finally signed his LT replacement this off-season, and will give him one more year to prove himself, most likely as a RT on their line. His pass-protection has been horrible since Day 1. And, he's had a great Defensive Coach as his HC the last three years.
Jake Matthews took over as LT at A&M in 2013, and left after his Senior season having had one year at LT and three years at RT as the #6 overall pick in the 2014 draft. His first year at Atlanta, he played RT as he wasn't ready for LT. He wasn't ready for RT, either, as he was rated dead last among all RT's (and LT's, if you count their grades, too) after nine weeks. But, he began to show signs of growth, and so he was move to LT in 2015, where he responded positively, rating 8th among LT's after nine weeks. Don't know where he finished, but based on his trend, on the positive side.
Ogbuehi, didn't start at LT or RT his first three years at A&M. In his 4th year, in 2013, he started at RT, where he struggled at pass-protection. In 2014, he took over at LT, but only played half of a season as he had a major injury. He also came with some maturity baggage, and he dropped in the draft all the way to the Bengals, who fell in love with his physical attributes. If there's one thing the Bengals are great at, it's developing Offensive Tackles, so the gamble, passing on so many really good players to take a guy who wouldn't begin his career until the end of his rookie season at best, missing his first training camp and OTA's, and thus all of the basics a Rookie needs to know when drafted in the NFL, raised a serious question mark on the Bengals choice as Cedric Ogbuehi as their 1st Round pick.
Smartly, they resigned Whitworth to two more years. Versatile Jake Fisher fell in their lap as insurance in case the injury took to long to heal. But, to Ogbuehi's credit, he recovered from his injury in a timely manner and got on the field in 2015, paving the way for the team to pencil him in as the Starter in 2016.
But, here's the thing. With the total disappointment of Luke Joeckel, and the slow learning curve of Jake Matthews, how long is it going to take Ogbuehi, a 5-year College player with a washed out Rookie season, to ramp up to competently man the Right Side of the line. He's expected to only spend one year there, just as Jake Matthews did, and then kick over to LT and replace Whitworth in 2018.
I'm not going to place unrealistic expectations on Ogbuehi. I don't think they are good teachers of Tackles at A&M. The learning will have to come here, of which there is not much better in the league when it comes to OT's.
Well, Joeckel won the Starting LT job, Matthews won the Starting RT job, and Ogbuehi won himself a red-shirt.
Joeckel went on to leave A&M after his Junior year and was the #2 overall pick in the 2013 draft. He's been a major disappointment for the Jaguars, who finally signed his LT replacement this off-season, and will give him one more year to prove himself, most likely as a RT on their line. His pass-protection has been horrible since Day 1. And, he's had a great Defensive Coach as his HC the last three years.
Jake Matthews took over as LT at A&M in 2013, and left after his Senior season having had one year at LT and three years at RT as the #6 overall pick in the 2014 draft. His first year at Atlanta, he played RT as he wasn't ready for LT. He wasn't ready for RT, either, as he was rated dead last among all RT's (and LT's, if you count their grades, too) after nine weeks. But, he began to show signs of growth, and so he was move to LT in 2015, where he responded positively, rating 8th among LT's after nine weeks. Don't know where he finished, but based on his trend, on the positive side.
Ogbuehi, didn't start at LT or RT his first three years at A&M. In his 4th year, in 2013, he started at RT, where he struggled at pass-protection. In 2014, he took over at LT, but only played half of a season as he had a major injury. He also came with some maturity baggage, and he dropped in the draft all the way to the Bengals, who fell in love with his physical attributes. If there's one thing the Bengals are great at, it's developing Offensive Tackles, so the gamble, passing on so many really good players to take a guy who wouldn't begin his career until the end of his rookie season at best, missing his first training camp and OTA's, and thus all of the basics a Rookie needs to know when drafted in the NFL, raised a serious question mark on the Bengals choice as Cedric Ogbuehi as their 1st Round pick.
Smartly, they resigned Whitworth to two more years. Versatile Jake Fisher fell in their lap as insurance in case the injury took to long to heal. But, to Ogbuehi's credit, he recovered from his injury in a timely manner and got on the field in 2015, paving the way for the team to pencil him in as the Starter in 2016.
But, here's the thing. With the total disappointment of Luke Joeckel, and the slow learning curve of Jake Matthews, how long is it going to take Ogbuehi, a 5-year College player with a washed out Rookie season, to ramp up to competently man the Right Side of the line. He's expected to only spend one year there, just as Jake Matthews did, and then kick over to LT and replace Whitworth in 2018.
I'm not going to place unrealistic expectations on Ogbuehi. I don't think they are good teachers of Tackles at A&M. The learning will have to come here, of which there is not much better in the league when it comes to OT's.
