The Cincinnati Bengals hoped they had found a diamond in the rough when they spent a fourth-round pick on Tulane's Cameron Sample back in the 2021 draft. Unfortunately, that's not how things panned out.
Sample wasn't abysmal by any means but he also didn't develop the way the team hoped that he would. His Bengals tenure ended following the 2025 season and now Sample is hoping for a fresh start with his new team, the San Francisco 49ers.
Defensive players not panning out for the Bengals isn't anything new. Peter Panacy of Niner Noise pointed this out and thinks that Sample could be a much better player in the Bay Area than he ever was in the Queen City. The reason for that is 49ers defensive line coach Kris Kocurek.
"Cincinnati's reputation for bad defenses in recent years might've led to Sample's own reputation being tarnished," Panacy wrote. "... Kocurek has the reputation for turning around the careers of castoff defensive linemen. The 49ers can look back at reclamation projects like Arden Key, Clelin Ferrell and others, who enjoyed career turnarounds under the coach's tutelage. Perhaps Sample is merely the next in line... Should Kocurek beef up Sample's prowess for such a role, it wouldn't be a shock to see the defensive end make a significantly bigger impact than what he was ever able to offer the Bengals, previously."
Cameron Sample might finally break out in way Bengals never saw
This would be yet another slap in the face to the Bengals. To see Sample play four seasons for them (he missed the 2024 season due to an ACL injury) and not amount to much and then go on to ball out for the 49ers would hurt, to say the least. At the same time though, it wouldn't be a big surprise.
As Panacy pointed out, the Bengals haven't exactly been great at developing defensive players and the team has paid the price. We saw that play out last season with an absolutely atrocious defense that blew games week after week. While the team has put in the work to add talent to that side of the ball this offseason, until we see the pattern kicked, it's hard to truly buy in.
Nothing against Sample but Bengals fans are hoping that another former player doesn't go on to play well elsewhere. That would hurt quite a lot but, at the same time, it wouldn't be anything this fan base hasn't seen before.
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