Don’t look now, but…the Cincinnati Bengals appear to have another problem on the offensive line.
It’s not just the guard positions, either, where a mixture of returning names and new faces creates a shrug-worthy outlook.
No, one of the biggest takeaways from the early sessions of training camp is the miserable lack of depth across the board, to the point the team can’t even securely say who backs up where and when.
The problem includes a logjam of names who can technically back up as swing tackles. Few can explain it as succinctly as Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic:
“Rookie fifth-round pick Jalen Rivers has run at tackle with the second team. Jaxson Kirkland kicked out to tackle one day. Ford played there last year, but the staff is hoping to gain an extended look at him playing guard this summer. On top of concern regarding rookie third-round pick Dylan Fairchild, currently the leader in the clubhouse to start at left guard, the cast of question marks lacking experience, floating behind the starting tackles, is startling. If the Bengals had to play Cleveland this Sunday without Mims, they couldn’t tell you who would hold down the starting spot.”