When the Bengals lost left guard Clint Boling to a torn ACL last season, they slid Andrew Whitworth over from left tackle and were rewarded with strong run blocking the rest of the way.
That left them with a decision about where to play Whitworth in the future. Anthony Collins, who took over at left tackle, is set to be a free agent and Boling’s outlook for the start of the season is unclear, leaving the Bengals with several options about how to proceed. Whitworth says there haven’t been many discussions about his spot at this point, but he knows which position he’d be playing in a perfect world.
“I’d prefer to play left tackle. I’m a long, lean-lever guy without thick arms or legs. I’m built to play tackle,” Whitworth said, via Geoff Hobson of the team’s website. “I feel like that’s where I’d like to stay. That’s not a firm thing. It’s just what I would prefer.”
Hue Jackson’s ascension to offensive coordinator has come with talk of more focus on the running game and Whitworth’s work at left guard last season would seem to make him a good fit in that spot moving forward. Should Collins return to the team or the Bengals pick up another left tackle possibility this offseason, that spot might belong to Whitworth for the long term.