Ed Puskas: Tough rookie season for Price

A year ago, Austintown Fitch and Ohio State graduate Billy Price had just won the Rimington Trophy as the best center in college football and was getting ready for the Cotton Bowl against Southern Cal.

Price helped the Buckeyes beat the Trojans 24-7 on Dec. 29, 2017 and then began preparing for the 2018 NFL draft.

But the year hasn’t gone the way Price had hoped. It began with the NFL Combine in March, when the lineman was injured during a bench press drill.

The injury turned out to be less serious than originally believed and Price eventually became a first-round draft pick (No. 21 overall) of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Price became the starting center and the season began with back-to-back wins over Indianapolis and Baltimore. But he was hurt against the Ravens and ended up in a walking boot.

Price missed six full games. He has started the last seven since returning, but the Bengals have faded fast after a 4-1 start.

Cincinnati (6-9) fell to the Cleveland Browns 26-18 on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium. The loss clinched last place in the AFC North.

Between Cincinnati’s freefall from playoff contention to the basement and the injury that cost him more than a month, Price’s rookie season has been difficult.

“It has been disappointing,” he said. “It’s not the that way I envisioned it, but it’s something you have to deal with.”

Price isn’t used to losing or watching from the sidelines. Remember, this is a guy who started 55 consecutive games at Ohio State during perhaps the most successful period in the program’s history.

In Price’s four seasons at Austintown Fitch, the Falcons were 31-10 from 2009-12.

The winning continued after Price got to Columbus. The Buckeyes went 12-2 as he redshirted in 2013, then were 14-1, 12-1, 11-2 and 12-2 from 2014-17 with Price starting on the offensive line after moving over from the defensive front.

The Buckeyes lost just eight games in his five seasons in Columbus. The Bengals have lost eight games since mid-October, including six of their last seven and two to the Browns. One of those was a 35-20 loss to Cleveland on Nov. 25, when starting QB Andy Dalton (thumb) was lost for the season.

The offense has struggled during the skid, only once topping 21 points.

The Browns held the Bengals scoreless until the opening moments of the fourth quarter on Sunday, when Ryan Bullock made a 51-yard field goal.

Jeff Driskel, who has taken over for Dalton running the offense, threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns sandwiched around a blocked Cleveland punt as Cincinnati tried to make things interesting, but it was too little and too late.

Driskel finished 13 of 19 for 133 yards, but most of those numbers came after the outcome had all but been decided. Joe Mixon led the Bengals with 68 rushing yards on 17 attempts. His longest rush went for 20 yards.

“It’s always about execution,” Price said. “We had a couple plays today that didn’t come off fast enough. That stops a drive. You block that guy [and it helps]. It’s all about execution.”

Price and the Bengals finish their star-crossed season in Pittsburgh on Sunday. After that, the calendar soon flips to 2019 and the new year figures to be better than this one has been.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.