“I could never really get comfortable with the right side,” Ogbuehi said Thursday in his first comments since being benched after starting the first 11 games at right tackle.
The Bengals made the decision last week to move Ogbuehi to left tackle, where he played in college, installing him as the backup to Pro Bowler Andrew Whitworth while Eric Winston and Jake Fisher will platoon on the right side.
“The left side, I think that’s my natural position and we’ll just go from there,” Ogbuehi said. “It was one of those things I really thought (after the 2015 draft) that I’d be left tackle and (Fisher) would be right tackle. Might as well start now.”
Ogbuehi’s struggles began in the season opener, when he was beaten repeatedly in a game where the New York Jets sacked Andy Dalton seven times.
By Week 6 against New England, the Bengals were platooning Ogbuehi with 11-year veteran Winston. What began as Ogbuehi playing two series to Winston’s one eventually flipped, and it was telling that on the final possession in the Buffalo and Baltimore games as the Bengals were trying to score to tie or win, Winston was on the field while Ogbuehi watched.
Offensive line coach Paul Alexander admitted he’s surprised Ogbuehi didn’t develop quicker as a right tackle, but he said moving him back to the left side might be best for Ogbuehi and the team.
“Really, to be honest with you, I think the left maybe comes more natural to him because left tackles are really predominantly right-handed people because they’re going to protect their inside with their right hand,” Alexander said. “Right tackles are predominantly left-handed people, ideally. In an ideal world. I think that probably comes a little bit easier for a right-handed guy. But there are better rushers over there so it’s a wash.”
Ogbuehi said not only is he right-handed, but that “my left hand is not very good at anything.”
While Ogbuehi admitted the benching caught him by surprise, he said he’s accepted it and is eager to get back to what is more familiar to him.
“I do think I was getting better, but where we’re at in the season I think they made what they thought was the right move and I just have to get better at left,” he said. “It’s my natural position and I can just concentrate on left tackle knowing that’s my future position.”
There was a point in the second half of Sunday’s win against Philadelphia when Whitworth got hurt and had to come out for a series. But instead of putting Ogbuehi in, the Bengals played Fisher at left and Winston at right.
But that was just because Ogbuehi had only a couple of practices at left, whereas Fisher had been working there all season.
Moving forward, Ogbuehi should be the first one in at left tackle if anything happens to Whitworth, and he could serve as the sixth offensive lineman in jumbo packages the way Fisher did earlier in the season.
“We’ll see,” Ogbuehi said. “Whenever coach calls my name, I’ll be ready.”
Ogbuehi, who missed the first 11 games of his rookie season while recovering from an ACL tear suffered in his final college game, made his NFL debut in Cleveland one year ago lining up as the sixth lineman.
He played well in his five games as a rookie, leading the coaches to believe he was ready to take over as a starter this year.
“It’s come a little slower than I thought, but I told him ‘I still think you’re going to be a terrific player, I really do,’ ” Alexander said. “It doesn’t come overnight to any guys really. Some catch on quicker than others and some guys once they get it they’ve got it forever, but it just takes longer. Other guys get it sooner but they never completely get it.”
Next Game
Cincinnati Bengals (4-7-1) at Cleveland Browns (0-12)
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
TV: Ch. 7, 12
Radio: 700-AM, 1290-AM, 1530-AM, 95.7-FM, 102.7-FM, 104.7-FM
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