Tag Archives: cincinnati bengals

NFL

Sanu, Mohamed

Card: Topps Strata Clear Cut 2012
Acquired: 2017, EBay

Rutgers is not exactly known as a football factory in college circles, so when a guy like Mohamed Sanu gets selected, you have to cheer for the underdog. Other people didn’t feel that way, as somebody called up Mohamed on draft day and pranked him into thinking that he’d been taken in the first round by the Bengals. Things worked out though as Cincinnati selected Mohamed in the 3rd round of the draft instead.

Mohamed had an amazing run as a Junior playing for the Scarlet Knights, posting 115 receptions for 1206 yards and 7 TDs.  In his 3 years at Rutgers, Sanu had 210 receptions for 2263 yards and 12 TDs. He also saw a decent amount of time rushing the ball, recording 125 attempts for 653 yards and 9 TDs.

He’d play for the Bengals from 2012 to 2015. Mohamed’s best season came in 2014 when he caught 56 receptions for 790 yards and 5 TDs- including a 76 yard bomb. Somehow he got lost in the rotation in his final year in Cinci. He’d sign as a free agent with Atlanta in 2016. He’d start 15 games and catch 59 balls for 653 yards and 4 TDs. During the playoffs he’d post 11 receptions for 121 yards and 2 TDs helping the Falcons reach the Super Bowl.

He’s a sneaky pick up late in drafts that pretty much everybody is aware of now. In 2017, Sanu caught 67 passes for 703 yards and 5 TDs, and in 2018 is on pace to near or eclipse those number by the close of the season.

NFL

Ambrose, Ashley (2)


Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1992, Classic Blister 1992, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Colorado
Sent:  3/16   Received: 3/29  (13 days)
See Also: Ashley Ambrose

So Ashley’s autograph has come a long way since 1992 or 1993, when it more or less represented a signature, at least compared to what I got through the mail in 2018.

Since his time as the defensive backs coach for the Golden Bears of Cal, Ashley has been quite busy. He worked as an intern for the Saints in 2013, and followed that up with one year stints with the Idaho Vandals (2014) and Texas State (2015) as their cornerbacks coach. From 2016 to 2017, he coached for the Broncos of Boise State, and currently is at Colorado as their defensive backs coach- a capacity he held with the Buffs way back in 2010.

Ashley gets no respect. The venerable cornerman finished with 42 career interceptions, which is quite respectable in this day and age of football. He had some great cards over the years. After I got his autograph on his Star Pics cards, I had always wanted to get back around to him and get his Action Packed Rookies card signed- really as a set need, however his GameDay card really takes the cake in this spectacular action shot. It’s well framed and the action barely breaks the image plane at the top of the card.

Ashley’s TTM trail had grown cold. I noticed a few attempts through colleges he had previously coached with, so I made sure I had his current whereabouts in mind before I sent this out.

NFL

Driskel, Jeff

Card: Sage 2016 (59/250)
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

Jeff Driskell started his college career at Florida, but after losing the starting job (partially due to injury) he opted to transfer for his final year of eligibility to Louisiana Tech.  While playing for LA Tech, Jeff had his best year in 2015, starting all 13 games and going 279 of 448 for 4,026 yards, and 27 touchdowns to just 8 interceptions. By all accounts this was the best school single season performance by any quarterback since Tim Rattay.

A multi-sport athlete Jeff was not only selected by the San Fransisco 49ers in the 6th round of the 2016 NFL draft, he was also selected by the Boston Red Sox of the MLB in 2013. He was released before final cut downs in 2016, but was snapped up by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he served as the 3rd string QB.

Trapped behind Andy Dalton and AJ McCarron, it didn’t really seem like Jeff was going to go far in Cinci, but the coaching staff has really taken a liking to him. AJ McCarron was traded in the 2018 off-season to Buffalo, and an open QB competition ensued for backup between Matt Barkley and Jeff. He played well enough that it was believed that Jeff may have had the inside track on the job, but he suffered an injury during the preseason and began the 2018 campaign on IR.