7 players Bengals could have drafted instead of Jackson Carman

The Cincinnati Bengals held the No. 38 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft but traded down to pick No. 46 where they selected Jackson Carman, an offensive tackle out of Clemson. Carman kicked inside to guard and started five games before losing his job to Hakeem Adeniji.

With how poorly the two reserves played on the offensive line this week, you’d think Carman could get into the lineup but he was on the bench for all but 14% of the offensive snaps. Not ideal for a second-round pick.

I get that Carman is only a rookie and there’s still hope for him to develop into a starting-caliber offensive lineman but as of now, the pick looks like a waste, especially with the talented players still on the board who Cincinnati passed on but could have used on their roster this year.

Let’s check out seven players who the Bengals passed on when selecting Carman No. 46 overall. We’ll go in order from when these guys were drafted.

Christian Barmore went No. 38 to the Patriots, which is where the Bengals were supposed to draft

As mentioned above, the Bengals initially held the No. 38 pick but traded the pick to New England, who then went on to select Christian Barmore out of Alabama. Barmore hasn’t been a star by any means but he’s been a nice rotational piece for the Patriots in his rookie season.

Barmore has appeared in all 13 games, making two starts for the Pats so far. He has 31 total tackles, seven QB hits, two defended passes, and half a sack so far. The Bengals could have used the depth on their defensive line and Barmore would have provided just that.