Bengals: C.J. Uzomah needs to take the next step in his career

C.J Uzomah, the 6’6″, 260 pound Cincinnati Bengals tight end, will be entering his seventh year in the jungle. Uzomah is a great receiving tight and over the years has shown flashes of what he can bring to the Bengals offense. His receiver-like agility with his 6’6″ frame is what makes him such a threat.

During his time at Auburn, Uzomah got to experience a whole year playing the wideout position. His route running improved immensely during that year as a result.

Uzomah has the ability to provide a  similar role to what Travis Kelce does for the Kansas City Chiefs. Both tight ends are very versatile and maneuver-like receivers and their 40 yard dash times at their combines show how similar they are in speed. Uzomah ran a 4.64, 40-yard dash, while Kelce ran a 4.61

During this offseason, Uzomah participated in tight end university, which was run by Kelce and 49ers tight end George Kittle. Here Uzomah was able to work on his route running with Kelce.

This was a vital camp for Uzomah to attend, due to the fact he was able to obtain knowledge from the best tight end in the league with a  skill set very similar to his. Now it just comes down to techniques for the seventh-year tight end to take that next step to stardom.

Uzomah showed what he is capable of when given the snaps in 2018

2018 was a career year for the former fifth-round pick out of Auburn, as he set a career-high in almost every category. He was targeted 63 times, which led to 43 receptions, and 439 yards, all career-highs.

Uzomah also landed in the endzone for a career-high three times. The Bengals were able to see what Uzomah is capable of when given the targets, so they gave Uzomah a three-year 18 million dollar extension after the 2018 season.

Burrow and Uzomah seemed to have a good connection in 2020

The highly anticipated rookie season of LSU product, Joe Burrow, was officially underway on Sept. 13, 2020. Immediately, you could tell Uzomah was one of Burrow’s favorite targets because, in the first two games, Uzomah had a total of 11 targets, eight catches, 87 yards, and one touchdown.

Unfortunately, we were unable to see them continue to build their connection due to the fact Uzomah would go down tearing his Achilles in Week 2 against the Browns.

With the 2021 season just weeks away, let’s hope injuries don’t rob us of a very exciting connection that Uzomah and Burrow seem to still have.