Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Orlando Brown Jr. made the media rounds recently and talked about plenty of interesting things.
Chief (get it?) among those was Brown’s commentary on the difference between blocking for Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow.
One of those comments, as captured by Arrowhead Report’s Jordan Foote:
“Now, as opposed to having to play in a lot more space with guys on my edge, guys have got to rush through me because Joe isn’t necessarily at 12-1/2 or 13 yards on certain drops. He’s going to be at 7-1/2 getting the ball out.”
This is straight-up schematic talk from Brown — but it made fans, and especially Chiefs fans, pretty angry.
On paper, Brown is 100 percent correct, too. Burrow and the Bengals offense calls for fewer steps on a drop back for a few reasons, so Brown will see more power moves instead of speed moves trying to get around him. That’s actually something we brought up as a positive when the Bengals signed him, as it better fits his body and skillset and will give Burrow more predictable and manageable pressure off the edge compared to when Jonah Williams was at left tackle.
This isn’t a knock on Mahomes’ game, but a mere observation. The reaction and debate, as seen below, is why pro athletes tend to give vanilla, boring answers about pretty much everything.