Bengals Tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Trent Brown Have More in Common Than Size, Last Name

CINCINNATI – There aren’t many people in this world that can make 6’8”, 345-pound offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. look small, but one of them is his newest Cincinnati Bengals teammate, Trent Brown.

At 6’8” as well, Trent stands eye to eye with Orlando. But at 370 pounds, he has a noticeable size advantage.

“The size comparison and obviously the last name, it’s super weird,” Orlando said Monday when the Bengals opened the voluntary portion of the offseason program.

“I’m super excited,” Orlando continued. “He’s a guy that fits our culture, the team, and the offensive line room. He’s pass blocked one-on-one a ton, which is what we do here in our system at tackle.”

Orlando Brown Jr. Thrilled To Have Trent Brown on Bengals

Orlando said he’s never played with another lineman as big as he is, but the new pairing reminds him of watching his dad (who was 6’7” and 360 pounds) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden (6’9”, 345).

That duo played six seasons together in Baltimore.

“I know Jamal Lewis rushed for 2,000 yards one year,” Orlando said, referring to 2003. “They got the best season (quarterback) Kyle Boller ever had. There was a lot of good that came out of that. It was a lot of gritty, gritty battles.”

Earlier Monday morning, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor was asked about the tandem in his news conference.

He skipped over the duo’s massive size and went straight to the pedigree, with each player owning a Super Bowl ring.

“They’ve been on some winning teams, so they know what it’s going to take for the way that we want to play,” Taylor said. “That’s a huge trait to me. They’ve played all sorts of rushers over the course of their careers.

“These guys know what it takes to compete at a high level. They know what’s going to be in front of them when they face these guys that we have to face in our division and elsewhere.”

Orlando has appeared in 10 postseason games and four Pro Bowls. Trent has four postseason appearances and one Pro Bowl.

“The thing with me and Trent, the tackle position is so important in this league, and when you have two guys that have done it at a high level for a long period of time, they know upstairs what they’re getting,” Orlando said.

No matter how well they play in Cincinnati, their size is always going to be a focal point.

Orlando said they haven’t officially adopted a nickname, but there is one he heard that he really likes.

Orlando Brown Jr. picks an early frontrunner for the best nickname for he and fellow 6-foot-8 tackle Trent Brown. pic.twitter.com/7qSaWDWaeo

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) April 15, 2024

“The best one I heard was ‘Brown County,’” he said. “Something about it sounds large. It just sounds really large.”

Trent will be the fifth tackle in five years to open the season opposite Orlando — from Ronnie Stanley in Baltimore in 2020 to Lucas Niang (2021) and Andrew Wylie (2022) in Kansas City to Jonah Williams (2023) in Cincinnati.

There’s a good chance there will be a sixth in 2025, as Trent signed a one-year deal last month.

And Orlando is already scouting the top guys in the draft, knowing one of them is likely to be starting at right tackle on the opposite side of the line from him next season.

“I pay a lot of attention to it,” he said. “Obviously, you’ve got your heavy hitters in (Alabama’s) JC Latham, (Notre Dame’s) Joe Alt, Olu (Fashanu) from Penn State, Amarius Mims from Georgia.

“There’s a lot of different names. There’s some smaller names as well. I think of the young man from Duke (Graham Barton), who is a really good player. There’s a lot of talent in this draft.

“You always want to know,” he added. “At the end of the day, it’s still a business. I at least like to have an idea of who possibly could be coming around.”

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