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Orlando Brown Jr.’s shaky preseason opener against Detroit revived a debate that his 2025 PFF grades had already started: is the Bengals’ left tackle still protecting Joe Burrow at a high enough level?
There is a reason Cincinnati Bengals fans are already talking about Orlando Brown Jr. after one preseason game.
It isn’t because Brown is suddenly a bad offensive tackle.
It’s because Orlando Brown Jr. carries the job of protecting Joe Burrow, and the Bengals have built their entire operation around one very important principle: keep their quarterback upright. It was Cincinnati’s 16-14 preseason win over Detroit, the same preseason opener where Burrow debuted a new under-center package. Brown Jr. gave everyone a reason to worry and a reason not to panic. The truth is somewhere in between.
The Problem Wasn’t Just the Sack
Orlando Brown Jr.’s most noticeable mistake came on Cincinnati’s first offensive possession. The Bengals were moving the ball. Joe Burrow completed his first five passes as Cincinnati picked up 25 yards on its first three plays. That stretch included a 16-yard completion to Ja’Marr Chase.
Then Detroit’s pressure arrived.
Rookie edge rusher Eric O’Neill beat Brown Jr. while Burrow was throwing to Mike Gesicki, getting home just as Burrow released the ball. Two plays later, Burrow took a nine-yard sack on what Bengals.com’s official recap described as a coverage sack, ending the drive.
The first sack was the play everyone noticed, and understandably so.
Brown has historically struggled against speed rushers, a pattern beat writers were flagging as far back as his Kansas City days. When he loses those battles, they can look particularly ugly because the rusher can sometimes get around the corner with very little resistance.
But there’s an important piece of context: this wasn’t simply a case of pass rushers destroying Brown on every snap. The play involved Detroit’s pressure scheme, and Brown wasn’t the only factor. Burrow also held the football, while the Bengals’ protection and route concepts didn’t give the quarterback an easy answer.
Still, when you’re protecting a quarterback who just reworked his contract for cap flexibility, the left tackle receives a huge portion of the blame when a free rusher gets home. That’s the reality of playing left tackle in Cincinnati.
The Numbers From 2025 Are Concerning
If you want to argue that Bengals fans should worry about Brown, the strongest evidence isn’t the preseason game. It’s last season.
According to PFF’s player grades, Orlando Brown Jr. received a 60.3 overall grade in 2025, which ranked 66th among 89 qualifying offensive tackles. His pass-blocking grade was 62.0, ranking 63rd, and his run-blocking grade was 59.8, ranking 61st.
Those aren’t numbers you expect from a player occupying one of the most important positions on your roster. And the volume of negative plays is even more concerning.
Brown played 1,110 offensive snaps in 2025, fifth-most among qualifying tackles, but PFF credited him with:
- 9 sacks allowed
- 10 quarterback hits allowed
- 46 total pressures allowed
- 10 penalties
His nine sacks allowed ranked 86th among 89 qualifying tackles. That’s a legitimate problem, and there’s no way around it.
But There’s Another Side to the Story
Brown wasn’t a disaster in 2025. In fact, he played every offensive snap for Cincinnati.
The Bengals’ official statistics show Brown started all 17 games and played all 1,110 offensive snaps. The Bengals also point out that the offense finished among the NFL’s top seven teams in passing yards per game.
There were stretches when Brown played very good football. Against Baltimore on Nov. 27, in the Bengals’ Thanksgiving upset of the Ravens, Cincinnati allowed just one sack while Burrow, back from a 75-day absence, threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns.
Against Miami in December, the Bengals allowed just two sacks, while Burrow completed 78.1% of his passes and posted a 146.5 passer rating. Chicago beat the Bengals 47-42 in a shootout. Per Bengals.com’s Week 9 recap, Brown still helped protect Joe Flacco well enough for 470 yards and four touchdowns.
So the argument isn’t that Brown can’t play. He obviously can. The argument is that his floor has become too low.
Orlando Brown Jr. Isn’t the Player He Was in Kansas City
This may be the most important part of the conversation.
Brown is 30 years old. He made four straight Pro Bowls from 2019 through 2022. He also started at left tackle for Kansas City during its Super Bowl LVII run.
But the trend hasn’t been kind to him since. I checked PFF’s 60.3 grade for 2025 directly against the site’s current player page, and outlets covering the team have described his 2024 season as forgettable. Specific overall grades for Brown’s 2023 and 2024 seasons have circulated elsewhere, but PFF’s current historical archive doesn’t display them, so this piece isn’t citing exact numbers for those two years.
What’s clear is that the Bengals didn’t sign Brown because they thought he was going to be an average tackle. They signed him because they believed he could be a high-level protector for Burrow, and the question now is whether that version of Brown is still available.
The Speed-Rusher Problem
This is where the concern becomes very specific.
Brown is 6-foot-8 and around 350 pounds. He’s enormous. He’s powerful. He has the length you’d want in a left tackle.
But elite speed rushers can create problems for him, and that has been true throughout his career. The Bengals have seen it in practice, and it showed up again against Detroit, which is particularly concerning because Cincinnati plays in the AFC North.
There will be games where opposing defensive coordinators identify Brown as the player they want to attack, and they won’t wait until the fourth quarter. They’re going after him immediately.
Cincinnati is going to face plenty of elite pass rushers during the season, and the Bengals don’t have to look further than their own practice field for a preview. Orlando Brown Jr. downplayed the idea of a one-sided rivalry with Trey Hendrickson. In a training camp report on their daily reps, he described the matchups as close to even: “That’s part of the ball. The ups and downs of training camp. That’s part of it. There’ll be times he’s dominating the battle, I’m dominating the battle, and there are times we’re going to be splitting even.”
Enter Amarius Mims
Here’s where the Bengals’ situation gets interesting.
Amarius Mims could actually make Brown’s job easier. Mims projects to anchor the right side of Cincinnati’s offensive line, and if he takes the expected step forward, the Bengals won’t have to worry about both tackle positions.
That gives Cincinnati options. They can keep a tight end in to help Brown, or can use a running back to chip the edge rusher or shift protection toward Brown. They can also lean on more play-action and under-center concepts, and get Burrow out of long, exposed drops.
That’s exactly why Cincinnati’s increased use of under-center formations this preseason could be important. It gives the offense another way to manipulate defenses and reduce the pressure on the offensive line, without requiring a wholesale change to the Bengals’ offensive identity.
So, Is Orlando Brown Jr. a Liability?
Right now, I’d say he’s a potential liability, but not a player the Bengals should be trying to replace. That’s an important distinction.
If Brown continues to give up sacks at the rate PFF recorded last season, then yes, the Bengals have a serious problem. But one preseason sack isn’t enough evidence to conclude that Brown has fallen off a cliff.
He’s still an experienced NFL tackle. He’s still durable enough to have played all 17 games last season, and he’s still a former four-time Pro Bowler.
And Cincinnati just signed him to a contract extension in March. The Bengals clearly believe he can still be their guy.
The question is whether he can give them consistent, dependable play at left tackle. That’s what needs to improve.
The Biggest Concern Is Joe Burrow
This is why the conversation feels bigger than one offensive lineman. If Brown gives up a sack to a backup quarterback in a meaningless preseason game, nobody cares. If Brown gives up a sack and Joe Burrow gets hurt in September, the entire season could change.
That’s the microscope Brown is playing under. Every mistake involving Burrow draws magnified attention, and Cincinnati’s history makes that understandable.
The Bengals can’t afford to have Burrow constantly playing with a defender in his face. A few things could help:
- The offense helping Brown with extra protection
- Brown improving his technique against speed
- Burrow getting the ball out quicker
- Mims establishing himself as a reliable right tackle
- The running game forcing defenses to respect play-action
All of those things matter.
My Verdict: Concerned, Not Panicked
After one preseason game, I wouldn’t call Orlando Brown Jr. a disaster. But I also wouldn’t dismiss the warning signs.
2025 was not a good statistical season for Brown. A 60.3 PFF grade, nine sacks allowed, 46 pressures and 10 penalties are legitimate concerns, and the first preseason game of 2026 produced another ugly pressure against a speed rush.
That’s enough to put Brown on the Bengals’ watch list. But it’s not enough to start talking about replacing him.
The Bengals don’t need Orlando Brown to suddenly become the best left tackle in football. They need him to be consistent, win the ordinary pass-rushing reps, stop giving up the devastating plays and, most importantly, keep Joe Burrow clean.
Because if Orlando Brown can get back to being a solid, dependable left tackle, Cincinnati’s offensive line could be good enough. If the 2025 version of Brown shows up again, however, the Bengals may have a problem that is much bigger than one preseason game.
The next few weeks will tell us which version of Orlando Brown Jr. Cincinnati is getting.
FAQs
What is Orlando Brown Jr.'s PFF grade for the 2025 season?
PFF gave Brown a 60.3 overall grade for 2025, which ranked 66th among 89 qualifying offensive tackles, with a 62.0 pass-blocking grade (63rd) and a 59.8 run-blocking grade (61st).
How many sacks did Orlando Brown Jr. allow in 2025?
PFF credited Brown with 9 sacks allowed, 10 quarterback hits allowed and 46 total pressures across 1,110 offensive snaps, the fifth-most among qualifying tackles. His nine sacks allowed ranked 86th among 89 qualifying tackles.
Did Orlando Brown Jr. give up a sack in the Bengals' preseason opener against Detroit?
Rookie edge rusher Eric O’Neill beat Brown on a play where Burrow got hit throwing to Mike Gesicki. Two plays later, Burrow took a separate nine-yard sack that Bengals.com’s recap described as a coverage sack, meaning the quarterback held the ball rather than the tackle losing his rusher cleanly.
How does Amarius Mims factor into the Bengals' left tackle situation?
Mims projects to anchor the right side of Cincinnati’s offensive line in 2026. If he takes the expected step forward, the Bengals can lean on more protection concepts, like extra tight ends and under-center formations, to help Brown on the left side.
Is Orlando Brown Jr. still considered an elite left tackle?
Brown made four straight Pro Bowls from 2019 through 2022, and he started at left tackle for Kansas City’s Super Bowl LVII run. Cincinnati signed him to a contract extension in March 2026. But his 2025 grade and pressure numbers were among the league’s worst at the position, which is why his current level is in question.
This article was reported, fact-checked, and edited using The Cincinnati Exchange’s proprietary AI article system as part of our editorial process. Every stat, grade, and quote was independently verified against PFF, Pro-Football-Reference, and Bengals.com before publication. This piece contains the writer’s opinion and analysis, clearly presented as such and separated from the verified factual reporting above.
