Bengals Roster: Realistic expectations for Lamont Gaillard in 2022

Lamont Gaillard joined the Cincinnati Bengals roster last summer. What should fans expect from the former sixth-round pick in 2022?

Georgia product Lamont Gaillard heard his name called in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft but didn’t appear in a game until the 2020 season. He played in 13 games that year and made two starts at center.

That’s been it for Gaillard as far as NFL regular season action is concerned. He didn’t last very long on Cincinnati’s roster last summer but the team brought him back this offseason as offensive line depth.

Bengals Roster: What should be expected of Lamont Gaillard this year?

Yeah, I won’t sugarcoat this. It’s not going to be easy for Gaillard to make the Bengals‘ roster. There’s a slight chance that he makes it as the backup center behind Ted Karras but more than likely, Cincinnati will lean toward keeping last year’s sixth-round pick, Trey Hill to serve as Karras’ backup.

Ben Brown is also a factor at center and he can play multiple positions as well, which should make things even trickier for Gaillard. He’s certainly someone the team could keep on their practice squad but that’s probably where it stops for the Georgia product.

A realistic expectation for Gaillard is that he gets some reps with the third-stringers and fourth-stringers in training camp and the preseason and then finds himself on the practice squad for the majority of the season. If Gaillard is taking meaningful snaps in regular-season games, that is not a good sign for the Bengals.

That would mean that a slew of injuries piled up enough to where the third-string/fourth-string center would be propelled into a starting role. That’s never good.

Maybe Lamont Gaillard surprises us and does enough to make the 53-man roster but it won’t be easy. He’s going to have to put together a near-perfect summer campaign to have a shot.

It’s possible but not very likely.