Jackson Carman winning LG job isn’t a given after Bengals preseason opener

Jackson Carman is the only Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman who has to fight for his starting job. He didn’t put up a very good fight during the preseason opener on Friday night. 

Heading into training camp, one thing was apparent when it came to the Cincinnati Bengals‘ starting offensive line — Jackson Carman would have every opportunity to win the starting left guard job.

This was after Carman put together a mostly underwhelming rookie campaign in 2021 where he only made six starts and finished the season with a PFF grade of 56.3. There was a lot to be frustrated about with Carman but at the same time, he played tackle in college and was playing guard for the first time in his career.

Still, spending a second-round pick on a player who made such a small impact is going to have the fans anxious.

Fortunately for Carman, the team didn’t address the left guard spot and made it clear that it was his job to lose. He might already find himself in that situation after his pitiful showing during Friday’s preseason opener against the Cardinals.

Could Jackson Carman already be losing the LG job?

Not only was Carman’s performance pretty rough (he was the final starter left out on the field because of how bad he looked throughout the night) but rookie fourth-round pick Cordell Volson played pretty well when he finally took the field late in the game. Yes, Volson went against lesser talent but it’s still a positive sign that he did good things when the opportunity presented itself.

There are two more preseason games before the regular season opener gets underway so Carman still has a chance to turn things around. If he continues to flounder and Volson plays well, however, it might be safe to say that Carman won’t be starting in Week 1 for this team.

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