Cincinnati Bearcats Football 2026 Offensive Line Position Preview

Oct 4, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats running back Evan Pryor (6) celebrates scoring a touchdown with offensive lineman Taran Tyo (77) in the game against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cincinnati Bearcats Football 2026 Offensive Line Position Preview

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bearcats on SI
By Connor Mardian | Last updated Aug 17, 2026 11:52 AM ET

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The Cincinnati Bearcats have been climbing the totem pole and recently established themselves as one of the nation’s foremost offensive line corps.

Last season, Scott Satterfield’s squad allowed just a 2.29% sack rate, good for No. 3 in the nation. However with a good chunk of this core set to be gone by the end of the season, there is one last chance to prove their worth.

How Does Each Offensive Lineman Fit?

The Bearcats are set to field a line comprising redshirt senior Joe Cotton at left tackle, redshirt junior Evan Tengesdahl at left guard, redshirt junior Taran Tyo at center, Xavier Lozowicki at right guard and Judea Milon at right tackle.

Joe Cotton: Despite joining late ahead of last season, Cotton started all 13 games for the Bearcats, while helping them get named to the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week three separate times against Northwestern State, Kansas and Iowa State.

Evan Tengesdahl: Last season, Tengesdahl collected a litter of awards, the most notable being AP Third-Team All-American and the All-Big 12 Second Team. Tengesdahl notched a stellar 82.8 Pro Football Focus rating last season.

Xavier Lozowicki: After helping protect one of the FCS’ best offenses in 2023 at Maine, Lozowicki moved to the Bearcats two seasons ago and in 2025, he played in all but one game, Cincinnati’s opener against Nebraska.

Taran Tyo: The former Ball State Cardinal took to the water like a duck during his first season in the Big 12 in 2025; Tyo ranked seventh among Big 12 guards in PFF grading.

Judea Milon: He comes in with valuable experience, playing in 12 games last fall.

What To Expect From This Room

While the 2026 iteration of the offensive line may not look as strong as 2025’s, there is still plenty of talent to go around.

Even Lozowicki, and Milon who could be considered the weakest two, have performed admirably. With Nic Cardwell still in charge of the offensive line despite his promotion to co-offensive coordinator, the Bearcats are still in great hands and will be for the foreseeable future.

Cincinnati is less than three weeks away from kicking off the 2026 season.