The Cincinnati Bengals expected a lot more from Drew Sample when they took him in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. To say that he hasn’t hit expectations in the Queen City would be a massive understatement, as Sample has done very little in his previous two seasons and has just two catches through five games this year.
Sample didn’t put much on the stat sheet as a rookie in 2019 but his numbers in 2020 after C.J. Uzomah went down gave Cincy hope that year three would be the former Huskies’ breakout year. Third time’s a charm after all, right?
Well, that hasn’t been the case at all.
Sample started in Weeks 1 and 3 and had no receptions to show for it. He’s appeared in five games and just caught his first (and second) pass of the season against the Packers but neither were much to write home about. He had two catches for nine yards and on one of those catches, the first down was there for the taking but Sample got tripped up and fell down.
Drew Sample has been a disappointment for the Bengals.
Uzomah has definitely been the TE1 for this team and his insane performance against the Jaguars proved just that. He looked unstoppable in that game and that’s going to make the Bengals’ decision this offseason a little easier, as they can attempt to keep Uzomah around and maybe part ways with Sample.
This week, Sample appeared in the lowest percentage of offensive snaps this season, only being on the field for 31% of the offensive snaps and was on the field for 39% of the special teams snaps, which ties his season-high on that side of the ball.
The fact of the matter is that Sample hasn’t been anything more than a blocking tight end for this team. He might never be the pass-catcher the Bengals would like him to be and that’s becoming more and more evident as the season progresses.