Cincinnati Bengals: Predicting how rookies will perform

Carter Cethan, TE

Expected Role: Special Teams

2017 Statistical Prediction: 2 receptions, 12 yards

To end, we have the second of the two total undrafted free agents to make Cincinnati’s 53-man roster.

Cethan being here is honestly a complete surprise to me. He felt like training camp fodder from the moment he signed as an undrafted free agent in the spring. Throughout the summer there was no news which seems to point to him eventually surviving the roster cutdown. Considering some of the players who didn’t make it, seeing him still around was definitely unexpected.

It isn’t as if he had a horrible summer, by the way. He just didn’t appear to do anywhere near enough to stand out to the level it would take to keep him on the final 53. I mean, he did a decent job in the preseason and all (six receptions, 55 yards), but part of that was in the least meaningful of the outings, and it isn’t as if preseason statistics have ever been a reliable tell for regular season production.

Thinking more on the matter offers a simpler solution though: injuries. Specifically, injury concerns with one of Cincinnati’s other tight ends, C.J. Uzomah.

Despite my own personal opinion about how good Uzomah really is (he’s not), he does have an admittedly important role to play on this team. He himself is injury insurance for Cincinnati’s usual starter, Eifert. He may not have a high ceiling, but between he and Tyler Kroft, the Bengals have a low-variance duo that doesn’t leave them at risk of damaging mistakes.

At some point, Eifert is almost certainly going to get hurt. When that happens, the team needs someone to turn to for snaps, someone who may not offer anything close in terms of playmaking, but will not make the mistake which loses them a game.

Uzomah is half of that equation when healthy, but in August he came down with a bad ankle injury. With him not recovering by the cutdown date, Cincinnati risked going into the year with depleted depth at tight end (granted, they also have Ryan Hewitt, but he’s more of a moveable H-back than pure in-line tight end like Cincinnati apparently prefers behind Eifert).

Cethan is closer to being a Hewitt type than he is to Uzomah, but injury problems to Cincinnati’s other rookie tight end, Mason Schreck, removed him from the equation. Cethan was dubbed better than going into the regular season with only Kroft and Hewitt (who, again, essentially plays another position) as healthy backups to the notoriously injury-prone Eifert.

Next: NFL Power Rankings 2017: Week 1

Of any players on the entire roster, Cethan feels like the top candidate to get cut as suspended players come back and regular season injuries force depth problems elsewhere on the roster, but for now he’s here. If it becomes an extended stay, he probably won’t do much on the field outside of special teams, but just his presence in the 53 counts as significant for the UDFA.