Brian
Parker.
Brian
Parker.
Duke· 6'5"· 315 lb
R6 · #189 · Cincinnati Bengals"Long, high-cut right tackle with a 40-plus start résumé, a plus punch and clean mental processing; scheme-diverse swing OT with backup floor and eventual RT2 upside."Pre-draft read
Plays right tackle in Duke's pro-style gap and zone schemes, occasionally right guard. His primary win comes from length and a patient kick slide in pass sets, utilizing a timed two-hand strike, and resetting his inside hand. His secondary strength is intelligence and awareness in recognizing and passing off T-E games with the guard without compromising the B-gap.
In the run game, he relies on angles, effectively covering 4i techniques and climbing to the Will linebacker. He rarely generates significant displacement on down blocks. His lower half exhibits stiffness on wide zone reach blocks against 3-techniques, winning with precise hand placement and pad level rather than lateral quickness. He possesses average athletic ability, complemented by above-average length.
Brian Parker best fits an NFL team that utilizes a pro-style gap/duo power run scheme, emphasizing play-action and a patient pass protection approach.
Parker's Year 1 role projects as a swing tackle working with veteran guards; his ceiling is a reliable RT2 in a run-heavy scheme.
He would struggle significantly in a wide zone-heavy scheme that asks its tackles to consistently displace 3-techniques with lateral agility.
Parker's combination of length, pass-blocking acumen, and high football IQ makes him a plug-and-play protector, though his limitations in the run game will be scheme-dependent.
2026 NFL Draft Gems - #14 OT Brian Parker II (Duke)
Pre-draft film breakdown covering pass sets and hand use at Duke RT.
Brian Parker II Right Tackle Highlights
Duke RT cut-ups from the 2024 and 2025 seasons — pass pro and run blocking reps.
Shrine Bowl: Duke OL Brian Parker II
2026 Shrine Bowl practice reps versus Senior Bowl / Shrine defensive line invitees.
Brian Parker projects as a swing-tackle depth piece who can develop into a starting right tackle in a gap-heavy scheme. His four years as a starter and consistent pass protection make him a reliable blocker, while his intelligence on the field provides a high floor for his development. Teams buying Parker are getting a durable, technically sound offensive lineman with 34-inch arms who excels at walling off pass rushers.
Parker was a four-year starter at right tackle for Duke, navigating three head-coaching changes. He was a constant presence on the offensive line through the Riley Leonard and Maalik Murphy quarterback eras, known for his consistent pass protection grades. He earned invites to the Shrine Bowl and NFL Combine, where he reinforced his reputation as a high-IQ "coach on the field" type, although concerns about his lateral quickness against ACC 3-techniques and a lack of finishing on down blocks were noted.
Evaluators recognized his average athletic profile but valued his length and mental processing. Consensus placed him as a potential Day 3 selection, with a projection as a backup swing tackle who could eventually fill an RT2 role. The Cincinnati Bengals selected him in the sixth round, 189th overall, to add depth to their offensive line.
- 01
Length and set geometry
34-inch arms plus a patient kick slide let him wall off wide-9 speed rushers; rarely gets beat around the edge on true pass sets.
- 02
Independent hand use
Two-hand catch with a real inside reset; consistently recovers a lost inside hand without opening his frame or torquing his back.
- 03
Mental processing and stunt IDs
Passes off T-E and E-T games clean, communicates line calls with the guard/center, rarely bites on delayed rushers.
- 04
Durability and availability
40-plus consecutive starts at right tackle across three Duke coaching staffs; never missed a game to injury as a starter.
- 05
Anchor vs long-arm bull
Sits his hips and resets his base on speed-to-power; 2024 tape had zero sacks allowed on true bull-rush attempts per PFF.
- 01
Lateral quickness on wide zone
Struggles to arc and reach 3-techs to his play side; angles get flat and he ends up washing rather than sealing the edge.
- 02
Down-block finish is inconsistent
Covers up defensive ends but rarely displaces them; too many run reps end with his man still in the gap.
- 03
High-cut with average bend
Plays tall on second-level climbs, catches backers instead of striking them; misses fit angles at the second level.
- 04
Recovery when late in his set
Lunges and grabs when speed-to-counter beats his depth; has late-hand loss reps against ACC speed rushers.
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Duke | 10 |
| 2022 | Duke | 13 |
| 2023 | Duke | 13 |
| 2024 | Duke | 13 |
| 2025 | Duke | 13 |
| Career | — | 62 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Career swing-tackle with 40-plus career starts across multiple stops, primarily as the sixth OL and jumbo tight end.
Best-case is the long, technically sound right tackle who spot-starts 8-10 games a year as a scheme-fit RT2.
Practice-squad-to-active-roster shuttle tackle whose ceiling is emergency swing depth.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context Brian Parker II arrived at Duke as an under-recruited East Coast tackle prospect and stuck as the Blue Devils' right tackle across three eras of leadership. His 50-plus career starts and clean pass-pro grades made him one of the ACC's steadiest offensive linemen through the Riley Leonard and Maalik Murphy quarterback cycles. The 2026 draft board treated him as a scheme-fit swing tackle with backup floor and RT2 ceiling — average athlete, plus length and processor, zero injury flags, but limited lateral quickness against ACC 3-techs. His Shrine Bowl and Combine interview circuit reinforced the "coach on the field" profile that pushed him from a fringe UDFA into the Day 3 conversation.
NFL fit — Cincinnati Bengals The Bengals selected Parker at 189 to slot behind Amarius Mims and Orlando Brown Jr. as the sixth or seventh offensive lineman. The offensive approach favors gap-heavy schemes with duo and pin-pull concepts that match Parker's power-over-movement profile, and his length gives them a plausible emergency swing tackle if either starter misses time. He is unlikely to see a helmet on opening day but has a realistic active-roster path by midseason and a legitimate 2027 push at RT2 as Trent Brown's contract situation clarifies.
Retrospective Too early to grade, but the evaluation call is coherent. If Parker hits the "likely" comp band (Cameron Fleming arc), the Bengals got fair value for a Day 3 pick that historically returns very little. If the lateral quickness and finish concerns cap him below that, he is exactly the kind of pick that never sees a regular-season snap. Either way, the profile — length, IQ, availability, plus interview — gives him more paths to a five-year NFL check than most picks in the 175-200 range.