Bengals finally enlist linebacker help from a player Al Golden knows well

The Cincinnati Bengals acquired a new linebacker, y'all. This is not a drill. Is it the most electrifying pickup? No. It ain't future surefire Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner. Nor is it a bona fide star.

Nah. We're talking about ex-Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser, who was just a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars team that won at Paycor Stadium in Week 4.

Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden served in the same role for the Fighting Irish before landing in Cincinnati last year, and he doubled as Kiser's position coach for a couple years.

Unfortunately, in announcing this news, the Bengals indicated that Swayze Bozeman would be heading to injured reserve. Yet another brutal injury for Cincinnati through the first five games.

Bengals claim Jack Kiser off waivers in an unimaginative but intriguing move

Not that the Bengals were giving Swayze much of a shot in the first place. Despite his objectively superior athleticism to Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr., and the fact that he made the 53-man roster with relative ease as a May waiver-wire acquisition, Bozeman couldn't compete. Allegedly.

Guess we'll never know unless Bozeman comes back from the forearm injury he suffered during Week 5's win in Miami.

Anyway, it's no disrespect to Jack Kiser, but he was a fourth-round pick in 2025. He shouldn't be freaking waived in Year 2. We're talking about a Jaguars defense that just watched a first-team All-Pro in Devin Lloyd flee in free agency this past offseason. How did Kiser faze himself out of the mix in Jacksonville so quickly?

That's a question Al Golden must feel comfortable answering, lest this be a mere nepotist-adjacent personnel move.

On his own merits, Kiser is a solid tackler, or at least he was at Notre Dame. Across all his years in South Bend, he missed only 13 tackles on 285 total attempts (4.6% miss rate), per PFF. That's wildly impressive any way you slice it.

But again, that begs the question, what happened with the Jags? Are they just that deep at linebacker? I'm skeptical that's the case.

In joining the Bengals, Kiser should at least bring special teams value. However, if we're expecting a competitor to challenge Carter or Knight for snaps, this ain't the guy.

I tend to trust the Gridiron Grading fellas and Kiser has elite change of direction, as was evident in his Relative Athletic Score below.

Ooh, another thing: He showed out well in pass coverage at Notre Dame, too, allowing just one TD and recording four interceptions for an allowed passer rating of only 79.8. Kiser apparently committed only two penalties on 1,862 college snaps, too.

For a Bengals team that seriously lacks discipline and has been called out publicly by Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase for it as of Week 5 postgame, maybe Kiser is a more significant addition than he appears to be at first brush.

Regardless of the Golden connection, it's dope to see this Cincinnati front office do something. Not that Carter and Knight have been total disasters like last year, but uh, yeah, there's room for improvement at a still-weak position that Bengals fans demanded upgrades for this offseason to no avail.

I mean hey, at least Barrett is self-aware...

...And it's quite funny that this Carter quote comes out just as Golden pounds the table for one of "his guys" to at least bring a different flavor to the linebacker corps.

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