The Cincinnati Bengals have several injuries along their defensive line as they prepare for the home opener against the New England Patriots. They drafted several rookies on the D-Line to bolster their depth which is crucial in the NFL to win games throughout a 17-game season. One veteran player is in a contract year with a world to prove to see if he can reach his full potential for the men in stripes. This happens to be fourth-year pro, Joseph Ossai. Although he’s shown glimpses of greatness in spurts, he’s also often been injured and inconsistent. His body of work this summer has been impressive as the orange and black look forward to Ossai finally turning the corner and becoming a more prominent force in their defensive rotation.
Can Joseph Ossai Finally Reach His Full Potential?
Growing Pains
Ossai has been through many trials and tribulations over his relatively short career. In his rookie season, he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason after he flashed from the jump in 2021. He would return the following year and was fantastic, playing in every game, including the postseason as a rotational defensive end. In his two full seasons in the league, he’s played in 30 games and amassed 27 tackles and 4.5 sacks. In 2024, Ossai looks as good as ever in creating havoc off the edge going against the Bengals’ number one defense in practice.
It Takes Time
Developing into a great player usually doesn’t happen overnight. This gradual upward shift is the pace that Ossai is on and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. His more well-known teammate Trey Hendrickson similarly started his career through his first 30 games as Ossai had 17 QB knockdowns and 4.5 sacks and Hendrickson had 18 QB knockdowns and 6.5 sacks. The relatively slow start certainly didn’t hinder Hendrickson’s development into one of the best pure EDGE rushers in the NFL.
The two have become very close and Ossai noted, “This past year, he just helped me develop, helped me with my pass rush mentality, and then also just out of football, We would go to a church ministry at night once a week. Outside of football, we both found something that we could kind of connect with and just him mentoring me. It was good to see that it just wasn’t football, it was also life. Things like my faith and just holding on to God and he was really a big part of me and my mentality and just my mental health last year.”
Short Memory
The play Ossai is remembered the most by Bengals fans is the personal foul in the 2023 AFC Championship Game against Patrick Mahomes that put the Kansas City Chiefs into a better field goal position that they converted to win. The culture that Zac Taylor built is so strong that he and Ossai’s teammates rushed to his defense to let him know the loss didn’t fall on his shoulders. One of the most important qualities of any great player is the ability to forget about the past and move on to the next snap. This quality is one that Ossai seems to have with all he’s endured. With the 2024 NFL season weeks away, Ossai and the Bengals look to make new memories that hopefully end in New Orleans.
Main Photo: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
