Bengals rookie Cordell Volson has proven that he is worthy of starting job

It didn't seem like a great sign that the Cincinnati Bengals were choosing fourth-round rookie Cordell Volson to be their starting left guard over 2021 second-round pick Jackson Carman but that's how the cookie crumbled.

Volson got off to a rocky start at his new position but the North Dakota State product has settled in and is playing solid football.

Willie Lutz tweeted this about Volson and it's something that Bengals fans should know.

Bengals might have hit the jackpot with Cordell Volson

It was a risky move for the stripes to start Volson over Carman. One because Volson is indeed a rookie and had no experience playing guard. Two, because the team spent a second-round pick on Carman a year ago and not picking him to start at left guard essentially signaled that they were giving up on him as a starting option.

The Bengals' o-line has been hit-and-miss through nine games so far this season but Volson has held his own. PFF has given him an overall grade of 55.5 with a pass-blocking grade of 57.0 and a run-blocking grade of 55.3. He's surrendered just three sacks and has been penalized four times. He's still going to make rookie mistakes because... well, he is a rookie, but Bengals fans have to be pleasantly surprised by the performance the team has gotten from the fourth-round rookie.

There's still a lot of season left to be played but given the Bengals' track record when it comes to drafting offensive linemen, it's been awesome to see Volson play pretty well.