The Cincinnati Bengals had pass-rushing help as one of their bigger needs entering this offseason.
They added to this organically with the return of Joseph Ossai and also asked budding breakout Zach Carter to replace Larry Ogunjobi’s production in the middle. Anything else might be considered a bonus.
And seventh-rounder Jeff Gunter might end up being a big bonus.
Gunter had a near-multi-sack day on Thursday (a penalty prevented his second) as he whipped the guy he lined up across from multiple times.
“I ain’t hit nobody since my bowl game, so I was excited,” Gunter said, according to Jay Morrison and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. “Today was a good day. I learned a lot of stuff, and I think I made some plays. And watching Trey and Sam? Man, those are some of the best football players in the world. Just having both of them here at the same time, learning from each, I’m a kid in a candy shop. I’m just soaking it up.”
Dan Hoard captured footage of Gunter in action:
2. It was an outstanding day for the defensive line in general. Here 7th-round draft pick Jeffrey Gunter shows his quickness in a 1-on-1 pass rush drill. He also had a sack during the full team period pic.twitter.com/h6YWEnJCJv
— Dan Hoard (@Dan_Hoard) August 4, 2022
If Gunter keeps on this trajectory, he quickly goes from a question mark for the final roster into a possible rotational player on gameday, bolstering depth alongside the likes of Khalid Kareem, Cam Sample and others.
