{"id":988186,"date":"2026-08-31T13:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T13:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/988186\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T13:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T13:16:08","slug":"unfortunate-circumstance-becomes-a-blessing-in-disguise-for-bengals-preseason-standout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/988186\/","title":{"rendered":"Unfortunate circumstance becomes a blessing in disguise for Bengals’ preseason standout"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCincinnati Bengals<\/a><\/p>\n

Jacob Bayer wasn\u2019t thought to be here back in the spring. The former UDFA who joined the Cincinnati Bengals\u2019 practice squad midway through last season is leaving the preseason on the Bengals\u2019 53-man roster, but an injury played a factor.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Jacob
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco (16) taks a snap from center Jacob Bayer (69) during practice at the Paycor Stadium practice facility in downtown Cincinnati on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSam Greene\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Jacob Bayer<\/a> wasn\u2019t thought to be here back in the spring. The former UDFA who joined the Cincinnati Bengals\u2019 practice squad midway through last season entered training camp as an afterthought in a numbers game. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s leaving the preseason as one of the most pleasant surprises on the Bengals\u2019 53-man roster.<\/p>\n

Bayer started training camp as the backup center behind Ted Karras. He embraced the role with fourth-round pick Connor Lew<\/a>, while healthy enough to practice, being eased back from the torn ACL he suffered last year at Auburn. The Bengals wanted to be cautious with Lew\u2019s workload, and Bayer was their only option.<\/p>\n

When Lew didn\u2019t play in the first preseason game, Bayer stepped in as the second-team center and looked really good. Bayer continued to impress for the remainder of the preseason at both C and left guard. <\/p>\n

Showing that versatility was required for Bayer to stick around, but it may not have been enough without something happening completely outside of his control.<\/p>\n

Brian Parker II\u2019s injury keeps the door open for Jacob Bayer<\/p>\n

The path to Bayer making the roster became clearer when Brian Parker II landed on Injured Reserve to start the season<\/a>. Parker appeared to injure his leg in the final preseason game, which is why Jalen Rivers wound up finishing at right guard after starting at tackle.<\/p>\n

That injury changed the roster math entirely. Cincinnati has kept both Rivers and Javon Foster as the swing tackle battle may still be up in the air. Parker was a lock to make the cut along with Lew. Add in the starting five, and that\u2019s nine right there.<\/p>\n

Bayer was at best the ninth offensive lineman and could\u2019ve been No. 10 if Parker stayed healthy. Keeping 10 would\u2019ve been tough with five tight ends, and 11 defensive linemen making it through. The Bengals now enter the season with just nine as Parker will not count against the roster for a minimum four weeks. That means Bayer is here for at least the next month, barring any subsequent and unexpected moves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bayer has more than earned his place<\/p>\n

I think Bayer is one of the Bengals\u2019 top-eight o-linemen right now. His preseason certainly backs that up. Only Parker (107) and Rivers (101) had more pass-blocking snaps than the 23-year-old this month. Bayer allowed a whopping zero pressures, while the other two combined to allow 12, per Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n

Those reps weren\u2019t the product of draft status or past play. Bayer was thrown into the fire, and he was as cool as could be. Rivers, last year\u2019s fifth-round pick, struggled as a player Cincy would like to keep developing. Bayer was better than him over the last three weeks, and it wasn\u2019t particularly close.<\/p>\n

Bayer should stick around even after Parker comes back from his injury. They\u2019re each capable of playing center and guard, and the more versatility on the bench, the better. We don\u2019t know how long Parker will be out with whatever leg injury he sustained, but Bayer has made his case for a longer stay on the active roster.<\/p>\n

What Bayer means for the Bengals\u2019 offensive line depth<\/p>\n

Bayer gives the Bengals a useful insurance policy as the regular season begins. His presence gives Cincinnati another option to back up Karras if Lew needs more time, and he can be the swing backup for multiple interior spots Parker is when healthy.<\/p>\n

The backup swing tackle battle may need more time, but the Bengals have their interior set behind Karras and the starting guards thanks to Bayer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a player very little expected to make the roster, Bayer has turned a productive offseason into a special opportunity.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Joe\t\t<\/p>\n

Cincinnati Bengals News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCincinnati Bengals cut 33 players, place two others on IR to create initial version of 2026 53-man roster\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Cincinnati Bengals have trimmed their roster down to 53 players ahead of the 2026 regular season. 33 players have been removed from the team in one way, shape, or form. Two more have been placed on the Reserve\/Injured list and will not count against the 53-man roster for the first four weeks of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Cincinnati Bengals Jacob Bayer wasn\u2019t thought to be here back in the spring. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":988187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[265,228,129683,75520,227,256,2296,7,6],"class_list":["post-988186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cincinnati-bengals","tag-american-football","tag-bengals","tag-bengals-roster-moves","tag-brian-parker-ii","tag-cincinnati","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cincinnatibengals","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117190314784335084","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=988186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/988187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=988186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=988186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=988186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}