Bengals: Jackson Carman upped his stock in second preseason game

When an offensive lineman is the talking point of training camp, it’s typically not a good thing, especially for a second-round rookie offensive lineman. That’s been the case for Cincinnati Bengals rookie, Jackson Carman, who hasn’t had an ideal start to his pro career.

Carman was drafted with the intent of switching inside to guard despite playing tackle throughout his college career at Clemson. It hasn’t gone according to plan, as Carman has been outperformed by fellow rookie D’Ante Smith, a fourth-round pick who also played tackle in college but has made a name for himself at guard.

Carman’s low point was being listed with the third-strings when the first depth chart was revealed but it looks like he’s starting to figure things out and become a better player. He looked great running with the 2s against Washington in Friday night’s game. Jake Liscow went as far as to say he was “playing nasty”.

Has Bengals rookie Jackson Carman redeemed himself?

While it was certainly good to see Carman make a positive impact, it’s way too early to tell if this version of the second-round pick is here to stay or not. It was definitely a good sign to see him thriving with the second-stringers and maybe, just maybe, this will boost his confidence enough to where he can get more reps with the starters.

The starting guards for Friday’s game were Quinton Spain and Xavier Su’a-Filo playing left guard and right guard respectively. Spain looks to have a stranglehold on the left guard gig while the right guard job, which many originally expected Carman to be competing for, is definitely still up for grabs.

There’s one more preseason game to go and while Carman probably won’t make enough of an impression to earn the starting job for Week 1’s matchup with the Vikings, it was a welcomed sight to see him pancaking guys and looking like he belonged out there.