The Cincinnati Bengals sure could use somebody else in their defensive end group to step up and help superstar pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson. Unfortunately, the most promising candidate to do that by a long shot will be sidelined in Week 3 and perhaps longer.
Rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart had a dazzling NFL debut before a rather quiet outing against the Jaguars in Week 2's 31-27 win. Stewart suffered ankle and knee injuries in the fourth quarter that has him week-to-week, per Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz. Thus, in all likelihood, Stewart is out for Sunday's matchup against the Vikings in Minnesota.
That leaves the door open for a certain Bengals starter to rise to the occasion. Considering Stewart's talent, trajectory, and upside, it must be assumed that this longer-tenured veteran is fighting for his job in the coming weeks.
No time like the present for Bengals' Joseph Ossai to break out
Not to be too condescending, but the theatre nerd in me has come to refer to Joseph Ossai as Waiting For Godot. The classic Samuel Beckett play whose subject never arrives is an apropos moniker for Ossai, because every year, he's eyed as a breakout candidate, and every year, it doesn't happen.
Didn't stop Cincinnati from naming Ossai the starting defensive end opposite Hendrickson to begin the 2025 season, though. Why the Bengals forked over a one-year, $6.5 million deal to Ossai in free agency defies logic to me.
If you disagree with the assertion that Ossai is overpaid, before we even dive into him too deep, consider Dante Fowler Jr.'s case. He was coming off an 10.5-sack season in Washington that included a pick-six, yet earned only $6 million on the open market to sign with the Dallas Cowboys.
Ossai has never produced anything close to what Fowler did in 2024 alone. In fact, the Bengals' third-round pick from 2021 has 9.5 sacks in four-plus NFL seasons.
Maybe it's a point of pride from Cincinnati's front office to cling to Ossai this tightly when his most noteworthy/notorious play was a 15-yard penalty in the AFC Championship Game that cost the Bengals a chance at back-to-back Super Bowl appearances. I really couldn't tell you.
Through two weeks of the new season, Ossai has made like Godot once again, registering an unimpressive 50.6 PFF grade on 94 snaps. That pales in comparison to Myles Murphy's 68.1 grade on 41 reps.
Murphy was the Bengals' first-round pick back in 2023, and with Stewart on the mend, he'll be the primary rotational defensive end to spell Ossai and Hendrickson. When you think about all the attention Hendrickson draws from opponents, it's rather sad that Ossai can't put it all together to exploit such favorable matchups.
Although Ossai did have five sacks in the last seven games of 2024, his season-long pressure rate was just 8.9%. He's at 8.7% so far this season. In other words, nothing to write home about in terms of preventing Murphy from earning more snaps, especially while Stewart recovers.
The other piece of this is the fact that the Bengals signed two defensive ends to their practice squad recently in Isaiah Foskey and Myles Cole. Foskey played for Cincinnati defensive coordinator Al Golden at Notre Dame and was a Saints second-round pick just two years ago. Cole has a freaky size-speed athletic package, and he has a crack at an active roster promotion in the wake of Stewart's injury.
In other words, Ossai had better show something against the Carson Wentz-led Vikings, or else risk a significant demotion. The Bengals invested a lot in him based on his sack total in the second half of 2024 and whatever other potential he's flashed at times. Golden got brutally honest about the defense this week, hinting at significant changes in roles for unspecified players.
It is indeed time for Joseph Ossai to sink or swim in Week 3 and in the next few games. If he doesn't pass the test, fans will lament Cincinnati's decision to bring him back, and the defense could be in real trouble overall.