Bengals Roster: Realistic expectations for Jackson Carman in 2022
Jackson Carman is entering his second year on the Cincinnati Bengals roster. What should fans expect from the former second-round pick?
This time last year, Jackson Carman was a rookie with the Cincinnati Bengals and fans weren’t sure what to expect from the guy. After all, he had played left tackle at Clemson and the Bengals made it clear from pretty much the moment he was drafted that he’d be moved inside to one of the guard spots.
Carman struggled during early portions of the preseason but by the end, fans felt a little more confident that he could turn into a special player for them. He didn’t win a starting job at the start of the season but by Week 3, his time as a starter began, as he filled in for Xavier Su’a-Filo at right guard.
After making a few starts at right guard, Hakeem Adeniji returned from injury and that was when Carman was relegated to backup duty.
Bengals Roster: What should fans expect from Jackson Carman in 2022?
There’s one spot on the offensive line that’s up to grabs and that’s left guard. It seems pretty obvious that it’s Carman’s job to lose. If he looks really bad this summer and rookie Cordell Volson impresses, maybe the rookie gets the job.
Something else to watch for with Carman is the troubling news that surfaced this past April right before the draft. Should more come from this, it’s possible that Carman doesn’t end up playing.
For now, he’s on the roster and that means he’ll likely be the starting left guard when the season gets underway. Carman graded out at 56.3 per PFF while getting penalized five times through 462 offensive snaps. He did not allow any sacks.
The postseason was rough for Carman even in the limited snaps he took. He was only on the field for 39 offensive snaps through those four playoff games and had one penalty while grading out at 44.9.
Carman didn’t get a true season to transition from tackle to guard so we’ll see if he’s able to take last year’s limited snaps and learn from them. Fans should expect him to still have quite a bit of growing pains as he continues to learn a position that’s new to him.