Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor spoke to the media on Tuesday ahead of the second week of OTAs and said that the guard position battle is going to be a “fun battle to watch”. Bengals fans might enjoy it more if there was a more set plan at the position, but right now, at least according to Taylor, “There’s a lot of people in there competing.”
The biggest name Bengals fans are keeping an eye on this summer is second-round rookie Jackson Carman. The Bengals passed on Penei Sewell in the first round but took an offensive tackle in round two in Carman.
Despite playing tackle at Clemson, Carman is going to be moved to one of the guard spots and that’s been the plan all along for Cincinnati. This is a big move, especially for a guy used to playing on the outside, so hopefully it works.
Zac Taylor speaks with the media after the first day of Week 2 of OTAs. https://t.co/mf2G320GYy
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) June 1, 2021
The Bengals have several players competing to be a starting guard.
Carman is likely going to start unless he looks absolutely lost this preseason, but who are some of the other names to keep an eye on?
Quinton Spain is commonly projected to win the right guard job. Spain spent nine games at right guard last year, which was his first with the Bengals. He’d previously spent time with the Titans and Bills before coming to Cincinnati.
Xavier Su’a-Filo was actually the starting right guard when the Bengals took the field for OTAs but as Dan Hoard mentioned, this isn’t something that should be considered a serious lineup. Su’a-Filo, however, is a former second-round pick and played left guard for the Bengals in six games last season.
The first team O-line from left to right:
— Dan Hoard (@Dan_Hoard) May 25, 2021
Jonah Williams, Quinton Spain, Billy Price, Xavier Su’a-Filo, Riley Reiff.
Don’t read too much into that. Trey Hopkins is watching but isn’t fully cleared for practice yet. And Jackson Carmen will be given every chance to win a guard spot
The Bengals offensive line has to be better in 2021 and while the tackles get more of the attention, the guard position has more eye balls on it as of now because of the uncertainty.
Will Carman be able to make the transition? Will Spain hold onto the right guard job or will someone else end up grabbing that spot? There are a lot of unknowns for this group as we enter the summer sessions and the Bengals are going to find their starting group by trial and error.
Taylor’s remarks about it being a fun camp battle is right on the money though. This is definitely one of the most intriguing position battles for the Bengals ahead of the 2021 season.