One Bengals Offensive Lineman Ranked Among Top-15 Talents in Positional Gauge

The evaluators at Pro Football Focus have rolled out their offensive line positional rankings ahead of the 2026 season, and just one Bengals starter cracked the top-15 at their position: Ted Karras.

The wily veteran just barely made the cut at No. 15 overall among centers.

Minimal Representation

Jan 4, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals center Ted Karras (64) exits the player tunnel during introductions before a game against the Cleveland Browns at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Along the rest of the line, only Dalton Risner cracked the top-32 positional lists in general (No. 26 overall among guards). Dylan Fairchild, Orlando Brown Jr., and Amarius Mims all got left out of their top 32.

Karras is entering his 11th NFL season and fifth with the Bengals.

"At 33 years old, Karras stands among a solid group of veteran centers that may not move the needle in many different aspects, but excels in one facet or another," Mason Cameron wrote. "For Karras, the most valuable aspect of his game comes in pass protection, where he’s earned above a 70.0 pass-blocking grade in five of his past six seasons, including a 70.7 this past season. That skill set is a significant asset for a Bengals offense that emphasizes the passing game and desperately needs to keep Joe Burrow off the ground."

Risner is fresh off of arguably his best overall blocking season in the NFL.

He gets to run it back in Cincinnati following a whirlwind onboarding entering Week 1 last season.

"Risner gave the Bengals what he has provided multiple teams throughout his career in 2025: stable pass protection," Dalton Wasserman wrote. "Across 503 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed just 17 pressures and two sacks while earning a 71.5 PFF pass-blocking grade that ranked 18th among qualified guards. Risner also set a career high with a 69.0 PFF run-blocking grade. A similar level of play in his second season in Cincinnati would be a welcome sight for oft-injured quarterback Joe Burrow."

The Bengals offensive line is well aware of the noise surrounding their talent level. Brown Jr. in particular told me in the spring that they want to end this narrative that they can't protect Joe Burrow.

They just got some more bulletin-board material to fuel that fire.

"What's most important for our unit is growing, honestly, in so many areas," Brown said in May about the next step for the offensive line. "I think taking that next step to kind of kill this narrative in the media, and I don't want that to be misconstrued with our approach. But we are top dogs, and we got a really special unit, and to be honest, like there isn't a lot of guys across the NFL that could play in this Bengal system and be as good as they are on a different team, just based on what's asked of us from a tackle standpoint, our centers and guards."

The work continues at training camp this week.

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