Cincinnati Bearcats Football Star Named Among Top-50 College Football Players Entering 2026 Season

The experts at Pro Football Focus released their top 50 college football players list ahead of the 2026 season, and one Bearcat made the group: Guard Evan Tengesdahl.

The veteran offensive lineman is one of the best guards in the nation, and he's headlining the strength of Cincinnati's whole team this fall as one of the top offensive line leaders.

"Cincinnati's offensive line is the strength of its team, and star left guard Evan Tengesdahl is the biggest reason why," the article stated. "His 85.4 PFF grade ranks first among qualified returning guards in the nation. He also led all qualified Power Four guards in run-blocking grade (89.7) while allowing just 11 pressures and zero sacks in pass protection."

He checked in at No. 26 overall on the list and second among guards behind Iowa's Kade Pieper, who ranked just above him at No. 25 overall.

"Pieper flashed immense potential as Iowa's backup right guard in 2024, earning a remarkable 97.6 PFF grade across 108 snaps," the article noted about his ranking, coming just above Tengesdahl's. "He took over as the Hawkeyes' starting right guard as a redshirt sophomore in 2025 and ranked fifth among all FBS guards in PFF grade (83.6), earning first-team All-America honors from PFF.

"His 83.5 run-blocking grade also ranked fifth among FBS guards, as his explosive movement skills thrived in Iowa's outside zone-heavy scheme. No returning Power Four guard has been more valuable over the past two seasons, according to PFF's Wins Above Average metric. Pieper is expected to slide over to center for the Hawkeyes in 2026."

Tengesdahl already earned preseason All-Big 12 honors ahead of last week's Media Days in Texas, and he's hyped to bring the pain to opponents this fall.

The offensive line camaraderie is at a high level entering fall camp.

“We have such a good connection with the O-line group, but us three coming back, it just gives a big advantage to us over every other group on the field, because we just play so fluently together. As the game progresses, we just start getting in the groove, and we can just play with each other very, very well,” Tengesdahl said at Big 12 Media Days.

Check out the full ranking from PFF here.

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