The Cincinnati Bengals gave Jalen Rivers half of his rookie season to prove himself as a starter. The former fifth-round draft pick is slated to back up both guard spots in his second year.
We're 48 days away from the Cincinnati
Bengals' preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles
. Each and every day, we'll break down a player on the Bengals' 90-man roster leading up to final cuts. Check out previous player profiles here
.
Up next in the series is a player who started a handful of games last year as a rookie.
Age: 23
Year: 2nd
Position: Guard
College: Miami
Jersey Number: 74
Jalen Rivers was drafted No. 153 overall in the fifth round by the Bengals in the 2025 NFL Draft. Prior to the NFL, Rivers played five years in college at the University of Miami (2020-24). He started 29 of the 38 games he played, dealing with injuries for the majority of his time with the program. He transitioned from left guard as an underclassman to left tackle during his final two years. Even as a redshirt senior, he was alternating between the two spots.
Rivers was first being developed by Cincinnati at tackle, and soon moved inside the guard by the time the regular season came around. He was one of the first interior lineman off the bench and actually started seven consecutive games at right guard when Lucas Patrick
was injured and Dalton Risner
was still a backup. A knee injury took Rivers out of the starting lineup in Week 11, and he only appeared in two games for the remainder of his rookie season.
Rivers is entering the second year of his four-year, $4,620,988 rookie contract. His base salary for 2026 is the minimum $1,005,000 for his level of experience. That is also his cash figure for the season. When adding on his signing bonus proration of $105,247, his salary cap hit for the year is $1,110,247.
The Bengals gave Rivers half of a season to prove himself as a starter. Injury took him out, but he was also a liability for most of that time. It's tough for a Day 3 pick to immediately come in and keep his head above water.
Just because he wasn't quite ready as a rookie doesn't mean he hasn't a future with this offensive line.
Rivers is slated to back up both guard spots in 2026. He'll be joined by rookie sixth-round pick Brian Parker II, and rookie fourth-rounder Connor Lew as interior backups. Lew is a natural center and Parker played the position in high school, but Parker is likely to rep at guard for the most part.
The 53-man roster has room for all three with a backup offensive tackle or two. I do not expect Rivers' time in Cincy to end so quickly despite two Day 3 picks entering the room.
Roster odds: 90%
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Bengals Player Profile: Jalen Rivers finding his role after being thrown into the fire as a rookie
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