When the Bengals signed undrafted rookie punter Ryan Rehkow over the summer, he wasn’t even expected to make the team. As it turned out, he’s not just on the team. He’s doing things no punter in NFL history has done before.
Rehkow boomed the first punt of his career 80 yards, the longest punt in Bengals franchise history. In Week One he averaged 64.5 yards on his four punts, a new NFL record for the highest punting average in a game. And through four games he’s averaging 58.4 yards per punt, which would obliterate the former NFL record of 53.1 yards.
The Bengals have given up only 39 punt return yards so far this season, and Rehkow’s net average of 49.7 yards per punt would also be an NFL record for a season.
Rehkow hasn’t been perfect — his ratio of three touchbacks to two punts inside the 20-yard line is not very good — but he’s been good enough that it was an easy decision for the Bengals to cut their incumbent punter Brad Robbins after Robbins was cleared to return from the injury that opened the door to Rehkow making the team. Rehkow looks like an undrafted rookie who’s here to stay.
