Bengals offensive line help may have to come from somewhere else
The Bengals used their second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Clemson product, Jackson Carman. After the initial excitement, reports of Carman struggling in camp were validated when he ended up a third-string on the Bengals’ initial depth chart.
Hoping to see an improvement in his first game action, Carman ended up struggling throughout his showing. The initial hope was that Carman would be able to start at right guard, but that is not looking like it will happen this season.
It looks like Michael Jordan is in the driver’s seat to start at right guard, which could have Cincinnati a little worried since he led the league in penalties last year, and was responsible for Joe Burrow’s season-ending.
A player that did perform well and will be interesting to watch throughout the remainder of the preseason is D’Ante Smith who had a good showing at both tackle and guard.
While there was not enough gameplay action from the starters to really determine how this team would be, this offensive line will start a very similar group to last year. Hopefully, the coaching staff really know what they are doing and have been able to achieve a higher development after a normal offseason.