Orlando Brown Jr. confirms suspicion on how Bengals are managing their two offensive line position battles

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By John Sheeran | Last updated Jun 18, 2025 2:13 PM ET

The Cincinnati Bengals have a plan at both guard spots along the offensive line, even if we have to put the pieces together in an indirect way to see it.

Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher strongly hinted at right guard being a two-man competition between Lucas Patrick and Cody Ford. Pitcher also proclaimed the left guard job to be third-round pick Dylan Fairchild's to win moments after Fairchild was taken in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. doesn't have any competition for his starting gig, but he seems to look at both guard spots the same way as his OC.

OTAs and minicamp saw the Bengals roll out an o-line with Fairchild taking virtually all the reps at LG while RG was between Patrick and Ford in that order. Brown reaffirmed this to Jon Gruden in a recent interview on Gruden's YouTube channel.

"We do still have Cordell [Volson], but Dylan [Fairchild] has been pretty much, I don't wanna say locked in at left guard, but he's been playing left guard for us," Brown told Gruden. "And the right guard competition right now is between Cody Ford and Lucas Patrick, but we'll see how it unfolds."

Brown appeared to stop himself from saying Fairchild was the outright starter at LG. Fairchild is but a rookie without a real NFL snap under his belt and Volson's played well over 3,000 in his career, so it's understandable why Brown and the Bengals want to keep that position up for grabs in June.

Volson's exclusion from the battle at RG might be the more notable revelation. The fourth-year player hasn't played on the right side of the line since his college days at North Dakota State, but if Fairchild is taking all the reps at LG, Volson's best chance at starting again might be to center Ted Karras' right. As of now, he's got a view behind Fairchild at his usual spot.

The starting RG for Week 1 is up in the air, but the guy starting next to Brown is pretty clearly Fairchild or bust at this point. Even Brown himself seems to know it.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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