CINCINNATI -- Taking one offensive tackle at the top of the draft was easy to foretell the Bengals doing. Taking tackles with their first two picks? Not so much so.
That's exactly what the Bengals did when they picked Oregon's Jake Fisher in the second round Friday night after selecting Cedric Ogbuehi out of Texas A&M in the first round on Thursday. The offensive line room has gotten considerably more crowded and competitive.
"We're trying to get better as a football team rather than staying complacent," said head coach Marvin Lewis after Fisher's selection was announced.
That's one way to send a message.
Andrew Whitworth, Andre Smith and Eric Winston have started 312 regular season NFL games and 11 playoff games between them. If the Bengals hadn't drafted Ogbuehi or Fisher they would still be in good shape at this position for this coming season.
Now they're in better shape at the position for 2015 and beyond.
After four straight playoff berths that have resulted in one-and-done exits, there are no concerns if someone's ego takes a hit. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson has been blunt about that this offseason. He reiterated his point Friday.
"It sends one (message) to the whole offensive unit that we're going to be physical, we're going to protect our quarterback, and we're going to run the ball the way we think we know how to run the football," said Jackson. "That's where it starts for us, and it's going to end there, too. I think the message is well-sent."
The Bengals chose tight end Tyler Kroft out of Rutgers and TCU linebacker Paul Dawson in the third round. Kroft (6-5, 246) would seem to fit right into the mold Jackson is envisioning for the run game. Dawson, who was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season, has been compared to current Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict in terms of his instinctive play.
While those attributes on the NFL stage remain to be proven, the Bengals believe they've got a good starting point.
"Both of these kids have the intensity you're looking for and that look in their eyes," said Lewis. "We're excited about both of them that way."
The offensive line room is going to resemble the cornerback room this season.
The cornerback room has been filled with top-end talent the past few seasons. Out of the six cornerbacks on the roster for the playoff game at Indianapolis on Jan. 4, five of them were first-round picks. Toss in safety Reggie Nelson and there were six first-rounders in the secondary. It was never so much a case that Dre Kirkpatrick and Darqueze Dennard weren't good enough to play but rather Leon Hall, Terence Newman and Adam Jones were playing better and keeping them on the sideline.
Newman has signed with Minnesota as a free agent as Kirkpatrick and Dennard are both expected to get greater playing time, if not earn starting roles, this season. Those roles will have to be won, however. The same will have to be the case for any playing time for Fisher and Ogbuehi, who is coming off an ACL tear suffered in a December bowl game.
"It's take the best player and find a way to fit him in," said Lewis. "We obviously have two very good tackles (Whitworth and Smith) and Eric (Winston), who we signed to come back. This guy (Fisher) really is a good player. It will be a great future for us."
What Lewis doesn't expect is for any of his veterans to roll over for the new kids.
"They're pros," said Lewis. "They want to have the best team we can have in the National Football League so we've got to add good players to it all of the time. They understand that. They went through the process when they were picked. They know how that works. We want to have the best football team. They're out front. They can continue to prove that."
It doesn't happen often but this isn't the first time the Bengals have taken players at the same position consecutively in the draft.
The Bengals took linebackers with their first two picks in 2005 and 1998. David Pollack, who had been a defensive end in college at Georgia, was taken 17th overall with the idea of converting him to an outside linebacker. Odell Thurman, his college teammate, was chosen in the second round. Pollack's career ended abruptly with a vertebrae injury in 2006, while Thurmam ended his own career with repeated troubles off the field.
They had much better luck in '98 when they took Takeo Spikes at No. 13 in the first round and Brian Simmons four spots later.
The Bengals also took players from the same position with their first two picks in 1970 (defensive tackles Mike Reid and Ron Carpenter), 1977 (defensive tackles Eddie Edwards and Wilson Whitley) and 1981 (wide receivers David Verser and Cris Collinsworth).
