CINCINNATI – From performances in the preseason games to the pecking order in practice reps, everything rookie seventh-round pick Matt Lee has shown the last few weeks suggests he will be making the Cincinnati Bengals‘ 53-man roster.
There are 87 centers who played at least one snap in the preseason, including many projected starters, and Pro Football Focus ranked Lee first among the position with an 87.7 pass-blocking grade.
Of the 20 centers who played at least 25 snaps without allowing a pressure, Lee had more pass-blocking snaps than any of them with 71.
Bengals Rookie Matt Lee Allowed Zero Pressures in Preseason
And he did it while facing Chicago’s starters for multiple series two weeks ago before going against Indianapolis’ starters for a couple of possessions Thursday night.
“That was a great experience going against guys who are going to be out there every day and are names you recognize,” Lee said. “It’s been awesome. I feel really good. I’ve put in a lot of hard work. NFL camps are a lot longer than college camps, so that’s been a different element.
“But day by day, I’m getting better and learning more, both in terms of mentally in the playbook and understanding the technique,” Lee added.
Matt Lee gets THE CALL and that is a wrap on the Bengals 2024 Draft!@IEL_LLC pic.twitter.com/r1os7Iug5V
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) April 27, 2024
After supplanting 2021 sixth-round pick Trey Hill as the backup center a couple of weeks ago, Lee played every snap at center in the preseason game at Chicago.
And he handled the position for 29 of the 44 snaps Thursday night against the Colts.
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Lee’s run-blocking grade of 57.4 was closer to the middle of the pack, ranking 30th of 53 centers with at least 25 snaps.
“If I had to nitpick at my game, I probably have more skill currently in things involving pass protection,” he said. “Whether it’s one-on-one and blocking the nose or picking this up or our play-action passes where I’m going back, I probably have more success on a percentage basis doing stuff like that.”
“But not to knock the run blocking,” he continued. “That’s clearly more important to the position.”
One reason Lee said it’s taking longer to adjust to NFL run blocking is his unfamiliarity with the wide-zone scheme.
Lee said it’s not a matter of struggling to learn it. It’s more about where he started from and where he needs to be.
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“I’ve grown a lot since the beginning of camp,” he said. ‘Part of it is I’ve never really run wide zone. At Miami, we ran a lot of tight zone, a lot of duo, gap stuff. Here or there, we might call a wide zone play, maybe once or twice a game. But we ran a lot of downhill football, and it was the same before that when I was at UCF.”
“So getting here and getting exposed to guys who really know how to do it and coaches who really know how to coach it and a team that really emphasizes the run game, it’s been great,” he added.
All five offensive linemen started all 17 games last year for the Bengals, the first time that’s happened since 1985.
Expecting it to happen again this year would be a mistake.
The Bengals extended Ted Karras in the offseason, keeping him under contract through 2025. But whereas Hill was a huge question mark who struggled in his only significant action, the team feels better about having Lee as the first option off the bench if Karras had to miss time.
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