Jalen Rivers 'Taking Advantage of Opportunities' in Bengals Starting Guard Race

 The Bengals could have both their rookie draft picks on the offensive line playing significant time this season. Jalen Rivers performed adequately at right guard over the final two preseason games after entering training camp as an offensive tackle, all while rookie Dylan Fairchild firmly controls the starting left guard role.

Rivers posted a 69.3 Pro Football Focus grade across 51 right guard snaps against Washington and a 65.4 grade on 22 snaps against Indianapolis.

It's a case to ponder as Cincinnati has no clear-cut option to start to the right of Ted Karras.

“It’s great to have that chance. [I have to] just keep coming in each day and taking advantage of my opportunities. It’s a blessing to keep learning from these guys and the coaches and taking it day by day.”

Cincinnati selected the 6-6, 319-pound offensive lineman in the fifth round of this year's NFL Draft. He played in 38 games with 29 starts over a five-year career from 2020-24 at the University of Miami (FL), and started at left tackle during his final 21 games.

Rivers gained a decent amount of experience playing left guard at Miami. 

These next couple of weeks of practice will be huge for his ultimate landing spot on the Bengals depth chart, but he's checked the right boxes so far at a position with zero answers surfacing otherwise. Lucas Patrick is the listed starting right guard as of this writing.