As seen in the annual Cincinnati Bengals undrafted free agents tracker, punter Austin McNamara from Texas Tech makes the list.
And while undrafted free agent signings aren’t in any way official until announced by the team, McNamara would be a huge get for the Bengals.
Mcnamara’s possible arrival with the Bengals is the team’s response to Brad Robbins’ struggles last year. In fact, it was a little surprising the team didn’t use one of its 10 picks on the position during the draft itself.
Clearly, the team likely knew something outsiders didn’t about how the draft board would shake out — but it’s still surprising given some of the numbers making the rounds out there, such as this from Pro Football Focus:
Austin McNamara: 87.6 punting grade in 2023 (3rd among all CFB punters) 🎯 pic.twitter.com/5hNIje7DN1
— PFF CIN Bengals (@PFF_Bengals) April 29, 2024
It’s not often a punter challenges as the most-hyped undrafted free agent signing by a team, but Bengals fans know better than most how important the position can be, say, in key playoff situations.
