Bengals Round 6 Recap: Special teams gets some attention
It's more common for the Bengals to take two receivers in a single NFL Draft than ignoring the position entirely. That's how they began their work in the sixth round by taking Princeton wide receiver Andrei Iosivas with the 206th overall pick, much later than he was expected to go. But they weren't done. 11 […]
It's more common for the Bengals to take two receivers in a single NFL Draft than ignoring the position entirely. That's how they began their work in the sixth round by taking Princeton wide receiver Andrei Iosivas with the 206th overall pick, much later than he was expected to go.
But they weren't done. 11 picks later, with the pick they got from trading back with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bengals found a punter to compete with Drue Chrisman in Michigan's Brad Robbins.
Both picks look completely different, but their impacts may involve the same part of the team: special teams.
Iosivas is an athletic freak with great size at the position. He was very productive at Princeton, becoming the program's first-ever draft pick at the position, but comes in with much to learn. It just so happens there are no starting jobs available in the Bengals' receivers room.
"Overall, Iosivas has the long speed and body control worth developing, but he is currently limited in requires a patient coaching staff while he adds branches to his route tree, and learns how to be a more complete receiver." – Dane Brugler on Iosivas
The Bengals will bring in Iosivas to develop his game, but won't rely on him as a pass catcher for at least another year. If he does play regular season snaps in 2023, it will be on kickoff or punt coverage.
Enter Robbins, who is the new favorite to become Cincinnati's long-term punter. The Columbus native was one of the very best punters in college football over the past two years, posting an average hang time of 4.29 seconds and zero touchbacks for the entire 2022 season.
Robbins' right leg is very much needed after the Bengals saw both Kevin Huber and Drue Chrisman struggle to generate distance or hang time. He also has experience holding for place kicks, so there's no projection there.
While Iosivas is a pick for the long-term future, Robbins will be relied on immediately with the assumption he'll boot Chrisman off the roster come September.
