Bengals Beat: Scott Peters Looks To Kick Bengals Offensive Line Play Into High Gear, ‘Optimistic’ About Cordell Volson

INDIANAPOLIS — The Bengals offensive line will have a new leader in 2025. Will that lead to a new attitude, better protection in the run game and ultimately more protection for Joe Burrow?

Scott Peters was hired to replace Frank Pollack, who served as offensive line coach and run game coordinator for four seasons.

Since his days at Arizona State, Peters has had offensive line play in his blood. Peters has was drafted in 2002 by the Philadelphia Eagles (124th overall), playing seven seasons in the NFL, including with the Carolina Panthers. He spent six seasons as an offensive guard and center before retiring from football in 2009.

He moved onto coaching and eventually landed in Cleveland, where he revamped an offensive line for quarterback Baker Mayfield and star running back Nick Chubb that blossomed in 2020, helping the Browns rise out of nowhere and beat the Steelers in a first-round playoff game.

“That was always my strength, Peters said Wednesday at the NFL Combine. “What we talk about is there are no backups in this league. Everybody’s going play if you’re on the roster. You hope you can get through a season healthy, but realistically, it’s very, very unlikely. So you have to prepare everyone in that room as if they’re starting.”

That will be the attitude Peters brings to the Bengals, a line that has its two projected starting tackles in place, more than what could be said in his last stop in New England in 2024, where it was a revolving door due to injuries and inconsistent play. Now he walks into a room in Cincinnati where Orlando Brown Jr. is the left tackle, Amarius Mims is the right tackle and Ted Karras is the center.

There’s more uncertainty at the guard position, with right guard Alex Cappa a potential cap casualty cut and Cordell Volson coming off a season where he regressed in pass protection.

“He’s played three years, three years as a starter,” Peters said. “I really liked the kid coming out of college. He’s a tough guy. He’s physical. He’s got length. I think just helping him find ways to utilize his tools better is one of the areas of (improvement). And you can do that through drilling and kind of emphasis on certain things where we think we can help him. But I think there were some things where hand placement was something that was difficult. Some of the set angles and just having the ability to capture cloth with his hands. It’s something that we put a big premium on.

Can Volson benefit from a change of voice?

“I’m optimistic. I’m optimistic about all the guys we have. I think that sometimes it’s a good change of pace. I know when you get a new coach in, sometimes it’s a new, fresh start. Definitely optimistic. I look at it like, I see the issues, but are these things we can address and correct? Yeah, in many ways you probably can walk in with a clean slate, and I’m optimistic for sure.”

Peters has been known for his attention to detail in the technical aspects of blocking, with a “punch” technique that rates by score depending on where the strike of the offensive lineman hits on his opponent. Part of that punch is tied directly to the jiu-jitsu martial art.

“I had an injury when I was playing for the Panthers, and had a surgery,” Peters said. “I was non-weight bearing for a long time, so I couldn’t walk, and I couldn’t do anything athletic that way. So jujitsu is on the ground. I’m like, well, I’ll try that out. I got into that. I got destroyed by small guys about twice my age.

“My ego kept that a check and let me come back another day. And it was pretty interesting, because it’s really not about size, strength or athletic ability, it’s about technical knowledge and exploiting human anatomy. And I thought, well, if I’m a big guy and I can do that to someone else, that’s big. It’s a bonus. It’s something I enjoy. It was a good passion and I’ve taken some things with me as we apply them to football.”

Jiu-jitsu is a key element of UFC fighting, without the kicking. And it’s something that can be applied in many hand-to-hand combat situations in the trenches of the NFL. The key is getting players to buy into it and believe it’s a technique that can help them do their job as linemen.

“In the UFC, there’s only so many dimensions. I mean, football, you have a lot of dimensions,” Peters said. “You have 11 on 11. UFC is one on one. You’re always looking at yourself in the UFC. It’s like, you better have your skills up to snuff before you even think about scouting an opponent. So it’s really about self-development first, and then at the higher ranks and levels in fighting, it’s about how you exploit the opponent once your skills are developed. Guys are always looking at themselves. How can I add a new tool, a new process, something that takes you where you can see the weaknesses in your game.”

One of his biggest influences in the NFL is Bill Callahan, the offensive line guru with the Tennessee Titans and former offensive line coach in Cleveland with Peters.

The Bengals couldn’t get Callahan because he went to be on his son Brian’s staff in Tennessee. So, in Peters, the Bengals believe they’re getting the next best option. Peters has also come under the influence of former Bengals offensive line legend Jim McNally.

Peters has plenty of pedigree. The challenge will be applying that technique in practice and games to fit a specific run-blocking scheme.

“You see all these players that are here at the combine, everybody’s got something about them that made them a good player that makes them a prospect,” Peters told me. “They all have different levels of talent. But by and large, NFL players on the offensive line are big. They’re strong. They’re physical. They have these different things. So what separates them? So technique is one of those things. How do you optimize players’ ability? It can be done there in one way. I think that’s how you develop the unit and elevate the unit as well. Technique is huge. I was a former player where I had times where you’re frustrated because you want to block a guy. You just don’t quite now. Getting very specific there is helpful and I think the guys will appreciate that.”

Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher’s job will be to get Peters to transfer that technique into execution in a growing run game behind Chase Brown and better interior protection for Burrow.

“I think Scott’s a great addition,” Pitcher said. “Scott is an expert technician,” said OHe is really good on field with correcting those guys, giving them feedback, helping them develop their toolbox in protection, in the run game, kind of throughout. And so I’m just really looking forward to Scott having the opportunity to, again, work with the guys that are in the building. He’ll have a lot of input when it comes to who, potentially, we’re able to bring in, whether that be through free agency or the draft. And he’s just an overall positive addition, I feel like, to the staff as a whole. So excited for what Scott’s going to be able to bring us.”

In the end, Peters’ effectiveness as Cincinnati’s offensive line coach will come down to communicating his technique with his players and then getting them all to work in unison with the plans of Dan Pitcher and Joe Burrow.

“Everybody should understand the drills. They should understand the techniques, because it’s all synced up and synergistic when it’s done right,” Peters said. “That’s getting guys in the system that are smart. If you’re a backup player, intelligence is big. You’ve got to really want-to, you have to have high football character because some of those guys may not be quite as talented, but they can certainly overcome a lot of that with their approach and development.”