C. J. Uzomah

C. J. Uzomah (born January 14, 1993) is an American football tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Auburn and was drafted by the Bengals in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

C.J. Uzomah
Uzomah with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2015
No. 87 – Cincinnati Bengals
Position:Tight end
Personal information
Born: (1993-01-14) January 14, 1993
Suwanee, Georgia
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
High school:North Gwinnett (Suwanee)
College:Auburn
NFL Draft:2015 / Round: 5 / Pick: 157
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2020
Receptions:114
Receiving yards:1,098
Receiving touchdowns:8
Player stats at NFL.com

High school career

The son of Xavier and Stephanie Uzomah, C. J. attended North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia, where he played quarterback. During his senior season, threw for 238 yards with two touchdowns, rushed for 74 yards and had 168 receiving yards with one touchdown. As a junior, he passed for 1,750 yards and 15 touchdowns, and ran for 800 yards and 10 more touchdowns.[1]

College career

Primarily a blocking tight end at Auburn, Uzomah caught only 29 passes in his four seasons, but seven of them were for touchdowns.[2] He majored in Marketing while at Auburn.[1] As a freshman, he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass.[1]

Uzomah attended the 2015 Medal of Honor Bowl along with teammates Angelo Blackson and Jermaine Whitehead, making one reception for 29 yards to help the National team defeat the American team 26-14.[3][4][5] On January 17, 2015, it was announced that Uzomah had accepted his invitation to play in the 2014 Senior Bowl.[6] On January 24, 2015, Uzomah caught a pass for nine-yards and was a part of a South them that lost 34-13 in the Reese's Senior Bowl. Although he played in the two all-star games, Uzomah was not one of 19 tight ends who received an invitation to perform at the NFL Combine.[7][8][9]

Professional career

On March 3, 2015, he participated at Auburn's pro day, along with Cameron Artis-Payne, Angelo Blackson, Quan Bray, Sammie Coates, Reese Dismukes, Corey Grant, Nick Marshall, Brandon King, Jermaine Whitehead, Gabe Wright, Trovon Reed, and nine other teammates. Uzomah performed all of the combine and positional drills for scouts and representatives from all 32 NFL teams.[10] He was projected to be a sixth or seventh round draft pick or a possible priority free agent by the majority of NFL draft experts and analysts. NFLDraftScout.com ranked him the 12th best tight end prospect in the draft.[11]

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeight40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 5 3⁄4 in
(1.97 m)		 264 lb
(120 kg)		 4.62 s1.58 s2.65 s4.57 s7.22 s31 in
(0.79 m)		9 ft 10 in
(3.00 m)		19 reps
All values from Auburn's Pro Day[12]

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Uzomah in the fifth round (157th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. [13][14] He was the seventh tight end selected in 2015 and the second tight end drafted by the Bengals that year, behind Rutger's Tyler Kroft (third round, 85th overall).

2015

On May 15, 2015, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Uzomah to a four-year, $2.49 million contract with a signing bonus of $212,762.[15]

Throughout training camp, he competed with Tyler Kroft, Jake Murphy, Matt Lengel, and John Peters for the job as the second tight end after Jermaine Gresham departed to the Arizona Cardinals in free agency.[16] Head coach Marvin Lewis named Uzomah the third tight end on the Bengals' depth chart behind Tyler Eifert and Kroft.[17]

On December 6, 2015, Uzomah made his professional regular season debut after being a healthy scratch for the first 11 games. He was promoted to the second tight end after Tyler Eifert had been rule out of the game after suffering a neck injury.[18] He caught a four-yard pass by Andy Dalton to mark the first reception of his career in the fourth quarter of the Bengals' 37-3 victory over the Cleveland Browns.[19] He completed his rookie season with one reception for four receiving yards in five games and zero starts.[20] The Cincinnati Bengals finished atop the AFC North in 2015 with a 12-4 record. On January 9, 2016, Uzomah appeared in his first playoff game, as the Bengals were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wildcard playoff game.

2016

Uzomah entered training camp competing to remain a backup tight end against Tyler Kroft, Matt Lengel, and John Peters. He was named the Cincinnati Bengals' starting tight end to begin the regular season after Tyler Eifert was unable to return in time after fracturing his ankle in the 2016 Pro Bowl and Tyler Kroft suffered a sprain knee in training camp.[21]

He started the Cincinnati Bengals' season-opener at the New York Jets and recorded two receptions for a season-high 59-yards in a 23-22 victory. During a Week 5 contest at the Dallas Cowboys, he made a season-high five catches for 43-yards in the Bengals' 28-14 loss. He was inactive for Weeks 11-15 after both Eifert and Kroft had both returned from injury. Uzomah started the last two games of the season after Kroft had suffered a knee injury and Eifert had suffered a back injury that would require back surgery.[22][23] On January 1, 2017, Uzomah scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard pass from Andy Dalton during a 27-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens.[24] He completed the 2016 season with 25 receptions for 234 yards and a touchdown in ten games and eight starts.[25]

2017

Uzomah competed with Tyler Kroft and rookies Mason Schreck and Cethan Carter throughout training camp for the job as the backup tight end.[26] Head coach Marvin Lewis named Uzomah the third tight end on the Bengals' depth chart to start the regular season.[27]

After being inactive for the first two games, Uzomah was activated for Week 3 after Tyler Eifert was unable to play due to a back injury. Eifert was placed on injured/reserve for the remainder of the season.[28] On October 1, 2017, Uzomah made his first catch of the season for an 11-yard gain during a 31-7 victory at the Cleveland Browns. The next game, he earned his first start of the season and had one reception for 21-yards in a 20-16 win against the Buffalo Bills.[29]

2018

In 2018, Uzomah played in 16 games with 15 starts, recording a career-high 43 receptions for 439 yards and three touchdowns.

2019

On March 11, 2019, Uzomah signed a three-year, $18 million contract extension with the Bengals.[30]

2020

In the Bengals second game of the season, Uzomah caught 4 passes for 42 yards and rookie quarterback Joe Burrow's first career passing touchdown.[31] During the game, Uzomah also tore his Achilles tendon which will cause him to miss the rest of the season.[32] The following day, he was placed on injured reserve.[33]

Personal life

In May 2014, as Uzomah was attending Auburn University, his father, Xavier, a senior business analyst, earned an MBA from Auburn. His father holds a bachelor's degree in Business from the University of Southern Mississippi. C. J.'s mother, Stephanie, is a kindergarten teacher and holds a doctorate degree in education.[34] Uzomah is of Nigerian descent.[35]

References
  1. "C.J. Uzomah - 2014 Football Roster - Auburn". Auburn Tigers Athletics. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  2. "C.J. Uzomah". Cincinnati Bengals. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  3. Marcello, Brandon (January 3, 2015). "3 Auburn players to play in Medal of Honor Bowl". AL.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  4. "2015 Medal of Honor Bowl: National roster". Medal of Honor Bowl. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  5. "C.J. Uzomah hopes blocking skills open NFL doors". Des Moines Register. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  6. "C.J. Uzomah to play in Senior Bowl". USA Today. January 17, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  7. Thomas, Paul. "North Gwinnett's C.J. Uzomah ready to show NFL teams he can play physical". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  8. Erickson, Joel. "Auburn's C.J. Uzomah hoping to make one final impression on NFL with 'wow moment' in Outback Bowl". AL.com. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  9. "C.J. Uzomah hopes blocking skills open NFL doors". The Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  10. Erickson, Joel (March 3, 2015). "See how all 21 Auburn draft hopefuls performed at Pro Day". AL.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  11. "C.J. Uzomah, DS #12 TE, Auburn". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  12. http://www.draftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=119765&draftyear=2015&genpos=TE
  13. Marcello, Brandon (May 2, 2015). "Former Auburn tight end C.J. Uzomah makes big jump in NFL Draft". AL.com.
  14. "C.J. Uzomah drafted by Cincinnati Bengals". MontgomeryAdvertiser.com. May 2, 2015.
  15. "Spotrac.com: C. J. Uzomah contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  16. "Ourlads.com: Cincinnati Bengals' depth chart: 08/01/2015". Ourlads.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  17. "Ourlads.com: Cincinnati Bengal's depth chart: 10/1/2015". Ourlads.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  18. Dehner Jr., Paul (November 30, 2015). "Tyler Eifert fights injury on busy day". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  19. "NFL Game Center: Week 13-2015: Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns". NFL.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  20. "C. J. Uzomah 2015 Game Logs". NFL.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  21. Sessler, Marc (August 26, 2016). "Bengals' Tyler Eifert (ankle) targeting Week 4 return". NFL.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  22. "Bengals' Tyler Kroft: Dealing with ankle and knee injuries". CBSSports.com. December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  23. Joseph Zucker (May 24, 2016). "Tyler Eifert Injury: Updates on Bengals TE's Ankle, Back and Return". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  24. Inabinett, Mark. "See C.J. Uzomah catch his first NFL touchdown pass". AL.com.
  25. "C.J. Uzomah". NFL.com. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  26. "Ourlads.com: Cincinnati Bengals' depth chart: 08/01/2017". ourlads.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  27. "Ourlads.com: Cincinnati Bengals' depth chart: 10/01/2017". Ourlads.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  28. Marcum, Jason (October 11, 2017). "Tyler Eifert injury update: Bengals TE undergoing season-ending surgery, per ESPN". Cincy Jungle. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  29. "NFL Player stats: C. J. Uzomah-2017". NFL.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  30. "Bengals re-sign TE C.J. Uzomah". CincyJungle.com. March 11, 2019.
  31. "Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns - September 17th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  32. Patra, Kevin (September 18, 2020). "Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah suffered season-ending torn Achilles in loss to Browns". NFL.com. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  33. "Bengals Sign Mason Schreck To Roster, Place C.J. Uzomah On Reserve/Injured". Bengals.com. September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  34. "Uzomah". Auburn University Newsroom. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  35. "From Africa to the NFL". December 5, 2017.
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