Bengals' underrated OL manned LT, RT while fighting for final roster

The story of Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Jaxson Kirkland has gone overlooked at training camp.

No wonder, with names like Ja’Marr Chase in the headlines, the odd Jermaine Burton saga and rookie breakouts all over the place.

But Kirkland’s story is one of the best — and it might be critically important, too.

For attentive fans, Kirkland was the exciting undrafted free agent from 2023 out of Washington who fell out of the draft seemingly for medical reasons, so there was hope he could slow-burn his way into being a contributor.

It appears that time has arrived.

Kirkland spent his first pro year on the practice squad and this summer has been all over the place for the Bengals — literally.

As Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com noted, Kirkland played both guard and tackle spots this summer for line coach Frank Pollack:

Kirkland not only threw around his physicality and mean streak at both guard spots, but he moved out to both tackles at a moment’s notice in the last two games and held up well both times.

Pollack and Co. apparently gave Kirkland little notice before his start at left tackle and playing time at right tackle in different preseason games this summer.

It seems pretty obvious that the Bengals liked what they saw. Former second-round pick Jackson Carman was named in the first wave of cuts and he was a presence at the tackle spots. D’Ante Smith is out for the year, so that leaves Kirkland as a primary backup, barring a shocker.

And when a guy who fell out of the draft can play at least four spots on the line, he’s pretty valuable to a team. Kirkland will probably make the final roster by Tuesday’s deadline, keeping him right on track for what fans and media hoped when he chose the Bengals after last year’s draft.