Bengals' rookie is using his time wisely
The Cincinnati Bengals used the first two days of the NFL Draft to focus on the defensive side of the ball, but the third day was about adding offensive pieces. One of them was wide receiver Andrei Iosivas out of Princeton who was taken in the sixth round. In addition to being a football player, […]
The Cincinnati Bengals used the first two days of the NFL Draft to focus on the defensive side of the ball, but the third day was about adding offensive pieces.
One of them was wide receiver Andrei Iosivas out of Princeton who was taken in the sixth round. In addition to being a football player, Iosivas was a track star in the Heptathlon and won multiple championships, and set several records with his 4.43 speed.
Now, Iosivas is preparing for his rookie campaign in the NFL, and so far, it's been a productive journey.
"If you look at the progression in my routes from the first day I got here until now, you would think I went through a boot camp for three months, said Iosivas"-Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com
Iosivas has as good of a mentorship group as any rookie receiver could have. The Bengals have Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd as their three-headed attack and they are arguably the best trio in the NFL.
With the Bengals firmly indulged in their OTA program, Iosivas is getting an abundance of things thrown his way. To help with that, he mentioned how Chase and Higgins have taken him under their wing.
"I really take the advice of Ja'Marr and Tee very seriously and critique myself very hard," Iosivas said. "Every time I'm watching film, I see what Tee tells me and try to replicate it the next day or that practice."
Practice makes perfect that's for sure. For Iosivas now it's just getting to where the things he's learning become routine and not something he has to think about.
The more advice Iosivas can get the better. However, assistant wide receivers coach Brad Kragthorpe told him to watch Higgins the most in practice seeing as he's 6'4" and 220 pounds which is almost identical to the 6'3" and 212-pound frame of Iosivas.
"Tee knows we're very similar in build, so he knows how my body works more," Iosivas says. "In real life, Tee is humongous. He gets out of his breaks really well. If I can just be a mentee under him for a little bit. See how he does things. Even he told me that DBs in the league are surprised by how fast he comes out of his breaks despite how big he is. So I want to be at that level."
Higgins has turned into one of the best No.2 options in the entire NFL in just three seasons. So, Iosivas has all he needs to be successful.