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The Cincinnati Bengals made a fairly surprising move for Sunday’s game when they decided to start Hakeem Adeniji at right guard over rookie Jackson Carman. It looks like that will be the case following the bye week as well.
Head coach Zac Taylor told reporters Monday that Adeniji will remain in the starting lineup at right guard.
Zac Taylor says team is going to stick with Hakeem Adeniji at right guard. "He has earned another opportunity."
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) November 8, 2021
Praised him showing up in his first practices all season two weeks ago and playing like he did. Not perfect, obviously, but impressed him.
Adeniji had just been activated to the roster following a stint on the Non-Football Injury list that began at the start of the season. He has always been highly thought of as a developmental player after being taken in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL draft. The best part of his game seems to be his versatility to play just about any position on the offensive line.
That makes their decision to take out Carman when it seemed like the line was finally getting on the same page a bit questionable. However, it is easy to question it when the entire offensive line struggled to slow down a Cleveland Browns’ pass rush that was able to pin its ears back early on Sunday.
One speculation could be that Adeniji is viewed as the future right guard while Carman is viewed as the right tackle. That really seems to be one of the few reasonings for such a quick benching of a young player who was seemingly improving.
It will be curious to see if this is a move that sticks, and what kind of impact it could possibly have on the team’s matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders in two weeks. Adeniji’s performance will be under a microscope considering the circumstances.
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