Why Bengals late-round pick will be crucial to 2023 roster

From a late-round Ivy League pick out of Princeton to an NFL roster. Andrei Iosivas made a statement throughout the preseason for the Cincinnati Bengals with his bolstering performances and fan-favorite personality.

Iosivas is the first player in well over a decade to be selected out of the Ivy League by the Bengals organization. When Cincinnati selected Iosivas, they saw the upside but a lot of rawness that needed to be tweaked and improved.

Well, those major doubts got put to rest early on when he showed off his stout catch radius and his ability to attack the football in the air and make catches in front of his body with his hands instead of his body, which was one of the concerns coming out of college.

Iosivas led the Bengals in receiving throughout the preseason. He hauled in 12 receptions for over 130 yards and a touchdown, which he caught in the final preseason game, and capped it off with the well-known Ja'Marr Chase celebration, the griddy.

That was the moment his spot was for sure locked in if it already wasn't after his first two preseason performances and his dominant training camp.

Iosivas adds a different facet to the Bengals WR room that they really only have in Tee Higgins. Weighing in at 212 pounds and standing at 6'3", the Princeton grad can give the Bengals another outlet when it comes to one-on-one balls and red zone threats, which is key, and that is exactly how I'd expect him to be used in year one.

Andrei Iosivas was third in program history in college in touchdown receptions (16), sixth in receiving yards (1,909), and 12th in career receptions (125). He brings a lot to the table for the Cincinnati Bengals offense, and that is the main reason he made the 53-man roster in year one.

I must say, Zac Taylor, Duke Tobin, and the rest of the coaching staff got this one right.