Bengals finding edge fit a challenge in new era

INDIANAPOLIS — The Bengals must improve the pass rush. This is not breaking news. Ranking dead last in sacks per pass play and no player outside Carlos Dunlap topping three sacks last season are impossible to hide.

Spotting the problem doesn't require an episode of CSI: Indianapolis, but finding an answer amid the conglomeration of hybrid college edge rushers could be its own mini-series.

Every team wants pass rushers but few of the productive prototype 6-foot-5, 280-pound defensive ends exist. Those that do are in high demand.

A dominant pass rusher like Clemson's Vic Beasley only weighed in at 240 pounds. An athletic freak like Kentucky's Bud Dupree had everyone wondering if they would list him as a linebacker or defensive end as hybrid player.

The hunt is on for the right fit — if that player the Bengals desire even exists in this draft, particularly at No. 21 overall.

"They exist," defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said. "Typically the high-level guys that have the dimensions for a true 4-3 and they are very good players, they go quickly. True 4-3 ends are like really good corners. The guys that are plug-and-play type guys tend to go really fast."

The evolution of the edge rusher position and prominence of 3-4 defenses requiring a different skill set out of the edge rushers make these picks more of projections than certainties. A possibility exists the Bengals could select an edge rusher who will need to fill in his frame or trim down to play at linebacker.

They did just that with last year's third-round project Will Clarke, who came in at 270 but is spending this offseason beefing up his 6-foot-6 frame to 290 pounds. They projected with Margus Hunt who came with the dimensions but none of the experience.

They've attempted to convert college defensive ends to the linebacker position before with former third-round pick Dontay Moch. Guenther estimates the transition takes at least a year. And even then, as with Moch, it doesn't always work out.

"A lot of your tweener, hybrid-type players sometimes don't quite fit our scheme," Marvin Lewis said. "That's why you've seen such a transition or change in the NFL game with 3-4 defenses. People used to think you couldn't change or make a transformation from a 4-3 to a 3-4 it took a little longer but because of those hybrid rushers in college people are making the transition a lot better. We have to find the right guys that fit for us that way and continue to develop and be maybe a first and second down base player as well."

Those options run out fast. Florida defensive end Dante Fowler, Nebraska's Randy Gregory and Missouri's Shane Ray figure to fly off the shelves early. The Bengals would struggle to find a position for the undersized Beasley if they needed to slot him at linebacker.

That leaves options like Oregon's Arik Armstead (6-foot-8, 290 pounds) who fits the Bengals typical body type, but will he still be around? Dupree offers up an intriguing option but at 268 pounds would need to trim down to play linebacker or bulk up more to place a hand on the ground as an end.

Those hybrid types view the dilemma through a different lens.

"Because we are so versatile I think we can help teams in a lot of ways instead of just playing one position, being I can play inside, outside or defensive end," Dupree said. "It really don't matter to me. I still move the same when I'm heavy."

Maybe he can, maybe he can't. Thus, the quandary for the Bengals to decipher.

"That's our job to come in here and figure out if they can do it," Guenther said. "That's what this process is that we are working through here at the Combine. See if they can do it. If he can't do it then you have to find a role which he can to utilize his strength."

More likely, the answer for a starter at defensive end would need to come from free agency. Plans are for Wallace Gilberry to slip back as a rotation player, where he was so effective prior to last season when he wore down with too many snaps. Barring a major jump from Hunt or Clarke, a starter would be unlikely to land in the Bengals lap at 21. If he did, all the better, but the second week in March is shaping up to be an important one for the Bengals pass rush.

If they can't land one, the guessing game of hybrid rushers and linebackers grows in significance come draft day.

"That's the challenge and the fun part of it to do," Lewis said.