Whether it be due to injury, being pushed to the back of the depth chart, or simply not playing up to expectations, there were a few members of the Cincinnati Bengals who had very underwhelming 2022 campaigns.
For players that didn't live up to the hype set out for them, or still disappointed with barely any hype, here are four Bengals players that we'd have liked to see more from during the 2022 NFL season.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
4. Drew Sample
I don't want to harp on Sample too much since he only played the first two games before missing the rest of the season after it was revealed he had to get knee surgery, but with his contract expiring this off-season, I feel like this year was his last chance to prove something to Cincinnati. Unfortunately, he never got that last chance thanks to his injury.
Still, even factoring out this season, Sample has been a very underwhelming player since he was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, which is odd because usually the Bengals hit in the second round (Jessie Bates, Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, and Cam Taylor-Britt were all second-round picks). Sample is the outlier in an otherwise solid history of choosing good players in the second round.
In his three healthy seasons, Sample has only managed to accumulate 460 yards and a single score. Yes, I know he's more of a blocking tight end, but typically you hope for more with a second-round pick. This season was just an accumulation of what has turned out to be a disappointing selection for the Bengals.