There's a player on the roster bubble that the Cincinnati Bengals need to strongly consider keeping on their 53-man roster this fall.

The Athletic recently pointed out tight end Thaddeus Moss as a Bengals player that's on the roster bubble.

From The Athletic:

If you’re setting betting odds on what position the Bengals could target in a trade or waiver claim, tight end would be a close second to cornerback. If anything happens to Hurst, they don’t have anything close to him in terms of play-making ability. Moss is the closest thing, so perhaps the Bengals go with four here, but his bubble status hinges mostly on Wilcox’s ankle injury. If the team puts Wilcox on Injured Reserve on Wednesday, Moss would be re-signed to the 53. If Wilcox is on pace to be healthy well before Week 4, they could just cut Moss and go with two tight ends and keep Lassiter or Pryor as a seventh receiver.

The Bengals would be wise to keep Moss, who is the son of NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss.

And it's all because of Joe Burrow.

Moss and Burrow were teammates at LSU during the Tigers' historic 2019 season that culminated with a win over Clemson in the College Football Playoff championship game.

Moss caught 47 passes for 570 yards and four touchdowns while playing with Burrow in 2019. Those numbers might seem modest, but it's important to remember that Moss was playing in an offense that featured multiple future first-round NFL draft selections in Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Second-round draft pick Terrace Marshall Jr was also a key part of LSU's offense that season.

The Charlotte, NC native hasn't don't much in the NFL after arriving in the league as an undrafted free agent in 2020, but that's been mostly due to injuries.

If healthy, Moss would give Burrow another familiar target in the offense. But that's not the main reason I think Cincinnati should keep Moss.

The former LSU tight end knows how Burrow and Chase operate. He knows where to go on the field to create space for other receivers. Moss can do a lot of the little things that don't show up in a box score. That stuff might not be the source of highlights, but it can change the outcome of a game.

In other words, the Bengals keeping Moss wouldn't be exciting, but it would be important. And it would be important for reasons that some folks will probably never even notice.

I know everyone loves the long touchdown passes or the big runs, but it takes all 11 players on the field doing their job to make those plays work. Keeping Moss would ensure that more of those plays happen for the Bengals this season.

Featured image via Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK