Ogbuehi missed the offseason, training camp and first 11 weeks of his rookie season while rehabbing from the ACL tear he suffered in his final college game. A sports hernia kept him out last spring.
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“He’s going to have the whole spring to get ready,” Zampese said. “Coach Alexander will be on top of it, and we’ll get a better version of what we saw last year.”
Ogbuehi started the first 11 games at right tackle, though he was benched in Week 6 in what was the start of a platoon with Eric Winston. Ogbuehi frequently appeared to be overmatched, and he admitted that improving his strength would be a focus this offseason.
“There are times where the matchups didn’t favor (him), and then there’s times where it looked better,” Zampese said. “I think the more strength you have when you can continue to keep your quickness and agility, the better off you’re going to play.”
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Here are five other things Zampese and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther touched on Thursday:
Reviving Hill
The Bengals all of a sudden are looking at a depleted backfield with Rex Burkhead expected to leave in free agency, Giovani Bernard unlikely to be ready for the start of the season due to his Nov. 20 ACL injury and Jeremy Hill’s production declining each season.
Zampese can’t do anything about Burkhead or Bernard, but he’s intent on getting Hill back to his rookie form when he ran for 1,124 yards with a 5.1 average.
“I know he’s in a great frame of mind because we’ve talked about it,” Zampese said. “I think he can really make big strides. I am confident in him coming back in the right frame of mind to do better because he wants to. He’s the right kind of kid. I’m looking forward to seeing that.”
After his breakout rookie season, Hill ran for just 794 yards (3.6 average) in 2015 and 839 (3.8) last season.
“The first year we had him, he was probably fresher because he didn’t play until about halfway through the year,” Zampese said. “We got some big, big pops that year and got confidence going in a particular style and some things worked out well. I think the league catches up to anything you do more than once. You put it on tape, guys get to coach it. It’s a very good league that way. You continue to make adjustments.”
Need for speed
Zampese bristled at the notion the Bengals were lacking deep balls and a lot of yards after catch in 2016, saying the team ranked in the top 10 in both categories.
But he fully agreed it’s important the Bengals find another deep threat in this year’s draft.
“You’d like to have that to go to,” he said. “You always want more of it. The more threats you have the better you can be.
“More explosive plays go with speed, typically,” he continued. “As long as there is enough football IQ and instincts that go with it so not to run right into guys. There’s all kinds of other factors. Going to see a kid at the school is important. What the scout brought back is important. Then getting together with the game tape and say what can he do for us and what we are trying to do and where our needs are at.”
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Evolving edge
The last four defensive ends the Bengals drafted in rounds 1-3 were 6-foot-6 Will Clarke, 6-8 Margus Hunt, 6-6 Carlos Dunlap and 6-7 Michael Johnson.
Team is expected to add another edge rusher this year, possibly with their first-round pick at No. 9, but Guenther said he’s not particular about the prototype with offenses spreading out and passing more than they’re running.
“Man, if that (guy) is 5-11 and he get there, I don’t care,” he said. “This is as good of a rusher draft, as far as all the way across the board — inside, outside, maybe linebacker guys — where guys are well schooled with their get-offs and their hands and all that stuff as I can remember.”
Straight eight
Before the Bengals pick at No. 9, the more quarterbacks, running backs and/or wide receivers that come off the board, the better for Guenther.
But even if the first eight picks are defensive players, Guenther said he could still find an impact player at No. 9.
“Is that likely to happen? Probably not. But we would get a good player,” he said. “I know we would get a good player at 9.You have a good enough feeling there’s going to be someone there that can help you out with a need. There’s rushers, there’s linebackers and then there’s DBs.”
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Inside information
Other than Pro Bowler Geno Atkins, the Bengals have lots of questions that need answered on the interior of the defensive line.
Marcus Hardison, the team’s fourth-round pick in 2015, has yet to play a game. Andrew Billings, last year’s fourth-round pick, missed the entire season with a torn meniscus suffered in training camp. Brandon Thompson (third round, 2012) has appeared in 39 games but missed all of 2016 with an ACL injury. DeShawn Williams (undrafted free agent, 2015) has played just four games. And 11-year veteran Domata Peko is a free agent.
“One of those guys has to seize the opportunity,” Guenther said, adding that he was excited bout Billings’ potential before the knee injury.
“When we got in pads, that son of a (gun), it was like holy (crap),” Guenther said. “When we practiced against Minnesota, I was like ‘Whoa, we might have something better than what we thought. Then he got hurt. Hopefully he comes back and becomes a good player. But you just don’t know. It’s a shame it happened.”
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