Looking back at the 2025 Cincinnati Bengals’ offseason, the move that still makes the least amount of sense was that they signed Lucas Patrick to be their starting right guard. Patrick profiles best as a backup center, struggled all of training camp, battled injuries and made one start all season.
Since their “big” move at right guard flopped, the Bengals were flirting with disaster with their plan to block for Joe Burrow.
Dalton Risner saved them. The guy who was a free agent into late August and was doing pass protection sets while stepping in dog poop at a local park in his neighborhood went on to become one of the best guards that has played in front of Burrow.
The Bengals and Burrow know very well how hard it is to find quality offensive line play. This year at right guard, they didn’t gloss over the position and hoard cap space for other spots in the starting lineup. They valued the position as they should and brought back Risner, who said last January that he felt like he had found a home in Cincinnati.
When the regular season ended, Risner received the biggest public locker room push to be re-signed that I’ve seen in this era of Bengals football outside of Tee Higgins. Everyone with a mic in front of them spoke about how much they wanted Risner back.
“He has set himself up,” Ted Karras said in January. “He has kind of had a similar career path (as myself), trying to find your way to be the guy. Hopefully, this has proven he can be the guy.”
The 2025 Bengals’ offensive line was good, and now the unit brings back all five starters for 2026. It’s the first time in Burrow’s career that he has had that type of continuity up front.
This year, there will be no “prove-it” offensive lineman trying to show that he’s still got it and no rookie pass protector hoping to show that he belongs.
The Bengals needed two new starting guards entering 2025. They added a new starting offensive tackle entering 2024 and 2023. They needed to add four starters entering 2022.
This year, the Bengals are bringing back a trusted offensive line.
At the NFL Combine, Dan Pitcher shared an interesting stat. The Bengals were elite last season at running the ball in 3rd and 1 to 3rd and 3 situations. That short yardage run game reflects a toughness on the offensive line, and Risner was a notable piece of that.
“He works his tail off,” Orlando Brown Jr. said in January. “He plays hard. He helps teammates up. He somewhat sets the tone in terms of our finish. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He’s a starter in this league.”
Risner took a winding road to Cincinnati. He was a starter for four years in Denver, but then he had a few seasons where he couldn’t find the contract he was looking for in free agency and stayed on the market for a while. He was still a free agent last August, waiting for his shot. The Bengals signed him after backup Cordell Volson suffered a season-ending injury, and then Risner found himself on the field against the Browns two weeks later in what Karras called one of the most impressive acts of professionalism that he has seen.
Without getting into the weeds of offensive line play, Risner proved to be a good right guard and played the best football of his career in 2025.
“Dalton is a veteran guy that some of our coaches had been around before, so we knew what we were getting when we added him in training camp,” Zac Taylor said in December. “I think he’s done an excellent job filling in there at right guard and giving us really good leadership in the room in conjunction with some other veterans we have. His play on the field, next to Amarius has been good, too, as a veteran guy next to a second-year player. Really pleased with how those two guys have done a great job for us this year.”
Risner also made a great impression with his hustle and his finish. No one literally picked their teammates up on the field last season more than Risner did.
With Risner back in the fold, the 2026 Bengals’ starting lineup is set. You’ve got Joe Burrow, Chase Brown, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Andrei Iosivas, Mike Gesicki, Orlando Brown Jr., Dylan Fairchild (quietly the most interesting guy on this unit heading into camp — he has a chance to make a real Year 2 leap), Ted Karras, Dalton Risner and Amarius Mims.
That looks like the best offense in football. Stories like Risner’s are what good units do — the Bengals effectively found a good starter out of nowhere and rewarded him to keep the offensive momentum rolling.
Up next is rebuilding the defense.
It’s refreshing how this year, the Bengals acted early and got this deal done with Risner on March 2. In 2025, as the Bengals worked on extensions with Chase and Higgins, their first pieces of business took too long to get done. They were playing catchup when free agency started.
This year, the Bengals already have their offense spoken for before the official start of the league year. All of their attention can turn toward negotiating with defensive free agents. Getting the Risner done early is a good sign for where the Bengals stand heading into the official start of free agency.
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