Taran Tyo Reveals Position Change as Cincinnati Finds Best Five Offensive Linemen for 2026 Season

Half of the Bearcats' football representation at the 2026 Big 12 Media Days came from the offensive line for good reason. Evan Tengesdahl, Taran Tyo, and more are the clear strengths of the team once again this fall after rolling out a top-four offensive line in the country last season.

Cincinnati has said goodbye to a couple of names on that front in Gavin Gerhardt and Deondre Buford, but they are more than ready to replace them. Tyo is part of that himself, moving from guard to center full-time this coming fall.

New Center

lineman Taran Tyo ' — Oct 4, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats running back Evan Pryor (6) celebrates scoring a touchdown with offensive lineman Taran Tyo (77) in the game against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

He's taking over for Gerhardt, who held down the role for nearly half a decade.

"I'll be snapping the ball. I think I'll be moving to center, which I think will be a good change for me, especially for my mind and understanding different fronts, different defenses, where to take the slide, and stuff like that," Tyo said to a scrum of reporters.

The versatile mauler has been a stalwart his whole career at different positions. Tyo notched a solid 72.7 Pro Football Focus grade last season across 766 snaps at right guard. All of that after playing nearly the whole 2024 season at right tackle while playing for Ball State.

He's one of a few dynamic options on this "Pancake With Us" offensive line. Cincinnati allowed just eight sacks last season, ranking second in the nation.

All in all, I expect the starting offensive line to go in this order from left tackle to right tackle: Joe Cotton, Tengesdahl, Tyo, Xavier Lozowicki, Judea Milon. Those last two roles could still be very up for grabs if a different name pops up during fall camp. Nolan Latulippe and Aidan Pastoriza are making pushes for those final two right-side spots.

The whole group still wants to get even better. Zero sacks allowed is always the goal.

"We could definitely replicate what we did last year, but we definitely want to improve," Tengesdahl told the media. "We did a lot of good things last year. We also did a handful of bad things that we want to improve on and fix the imperfections that we had last year. We can definitely get much better than we did last year."

Check out more from the big fellas here as they travel back to Cincinnati and get even more prepared for fall camp at the end of the month.

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