Sports Today: Bengals start critical week with strong move

RELATED: Details of the trade

Does that make him the perfect Bengals acquisition or what?

Yet again Mike Brown’s team buys low on a talented player, though in this case it is one who has proven he knows how to play in the league rather than an injured rookie (Cedric Ogbuehi).

This looks like a really strong move as it gives them a proven commodity on the offensive line without forfeiting the right to draft another offensive lineman as early as the 21st pick.

Win-win.

READ MORE: Marvin Lewis talks about new assistants, their backup QB dilemma and more

They still have a question at center and right tackle, but this should give them some flexibility if there is someone at another position they have rated higher than whoever is the top offensive lineman on the board.

Iowa center James Daniels is viewed by at least some draft analysts as a better value in the second half of the first round than at 12, where the Bengals were formerly picking.

At this point I also wonder if it might make sense to re-sign Russell Bodine then do another TOTALLY BENGALS THING and draft Ohio State's Billy Price if he falls a round or two because of his pec injury.

This provides the team a chance to see how Bodine reacts to new offensive line coach Frank Pollack and time for Price to heal from surgery.

Price could be hard-pressed to jump right in at center if he misses most of the offseason program, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be ready at some point in 2018.

Price can also play guard once he gets healthy if the center is holding early in the campaign.

Bodine and Price are sort of insurance policies for each other in this scenario.

If you want to really set yourself up for disappointment, you could envision the Bengals drafting Lamar Jackson at No. 21. It’s at least more likely they do it there than at 12, especially since again the line looks to be less of a dumpster fire with the acquisition of Glenn…

OK, so moving on from one positional problem area for a Cincinnati team to another: The Reds got a bad start from Homer Bailey and good news on Brandon Finnegan on Monday.

Bailey got knocked around a little by the Angels, including a leadoff home run, to run his spring training ERA to 9.0. He's allowed 12 runs in 12 innings over four appearances.

On the bright side: Amir Garrett followed him with another strong performance. The big lefty allowed two hits but not runs in two innings.

He has allowed two runs in nine innings this spring and struck out 11 while walking two.

Hal McCoy has written the fifth spot in the rotation that was open when spring began is Sal Romano's to lose.

Perhaps Anthony DeSclafani’s injury opens the door for Garrett to be in there, too?

As for Finnegan, MLB.com reports he received treatment for a strained bicep that caused him to leave his start early Sunday and feels good.

Bailey said he would rather miss on the plate than off it at this point in the spring and hopes to be more effective as he gets sharper with more work.

We shall see…

Lastly, it’s a pretty big week for Scott Nagy. 

Not only has he done precisely what he was hired to do by leading Wright State back to the NCAA tournament, he can also brag about his old team being in the Big Dance, too.

"I'm happy for them," Nagy said. "A lot of those kids we recruited, and we want them to have good experiences. If they can walk away from South Dakota State and say they had a great experience, that's good."

Meanwhile, neither Archie Miller’s new team or his old one made the NCAA tournament.

That's probably more coincidence than anything since he left a Dayton program that was graduating a great senior class and joined an Indiana program in disarray, but it is surprising nonetheless given how mediocre the Big Ten was and the skill at "coaching 'em up" he displayed with the Flyers.

In my view, both the Flyers and the Hoosiers had the talent to do more this year, but sometimes it takes coaches time to get their systems in place and everyone buying in.

Early recruiting returns are positive for both Miller and Anthony Grant.