![Florida Gators offensive lineman Jake Slaughter (66) looks on during fall football practice at Sanders Indoor Practice Fields at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, August 7, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://atozsports.com/.image/w_3840,q_auto:good,c_fill,ar_4:3,g_xy_center,x_3560,y_638/Mzk6MDAwMDAwMDAwMjI4OTAx/syndication-gainesville-sun-228901.jpg)
There’s a good chance the Cincinnati Bengals will need two new starters along the offensive line following the upcoming 2025 season.
Whether or not free agent Dalton Risner signs with the club, the right guard position will likely be a need next year. There’s also the future at center beyond Ted Karras, who’s entering the final year of his contract.
Travis May’s three-round 2026 NFL Mock Draft to celebrate the start of the college football season delivers Cincinnati potential starters at both positions.
Bengals select two IOL in way-too-early 2026 mock draft
May selected Florida C Jake Slaughter with the 22nd overall pick and Texas A&M RG Ar’maj Reed-Adams with the 86th overall pick for the Bengals in his mock.
Slaughter has started the last two years as Florida’s center and has only repped that position in-game. He’d make sense as an immediate Karras replacement if neither Seth McLaughlin nor Matt Lee inspire as much confidence to fill those shoes.
Slaughter has the build and athleticism to play any interior offensive line position and offers two full years of experience at center heading into this season. He’s a great leader, a consistent pass blocker, and can pull where needed in the run. This might look like a reach if people consider him a “center only” prospect, but he can be more than that. — A to Z Sports’ Travis May
Reed-Adams also enters 2025 with two years of starting experience but has only been at Texas A&M for a year. He played sparingly at Kansas for three years before starting games at both left guard and right tackle in 2023. He transferred to A&M and started the entire 2024 campaign at RG.
The Bengals did use a third-round pick to draft their LG of the future in Dylan Fairchild earlier this year, so spending another third-rounder on a RG to pair with him would make sense. Lee was the last center the club drafted as he was a seventh-rounder in 2024, but Billy Price was the last center they drafted to start immediately and he was a first-rounder like Slaughter may end up being.
This season will tell us a lot about how desperate Cincinnati’s need at RG will be next offseason, and if Karras will be worth bringing back on another contract or if a decision needs to be made about replacing him.
Slaughter and Reed-Adams now become two names to remember as the CFB season ensues.
