Given Ryan Rehkow wasn’t even expected to make the Cincinnati Bengals when he was signed as an undrafted rookie, the punter is certainly making his presence felt so far this NFL season.
In fact, the 26-year-old is doing things no punter has done before in NFL history.
Rehkow introduced himself with a bang, sending his first career punt 80 yards down the field – making it the longest punt in Bengals franchise history.
His first four punts in Week 1 averaged 64.5 yards, which was a new NFL record for the highest punting average in a game.
While some may have thought that performance was a flash in the pan, Rehkow kept up that form over the course of his first four games, averaging 58.4 yards per punt, which would smash the previous record – 53.1 yards – out of the water.
It doesn’t stop there however, as the Bengals have given up only 39 punt return yards so far this season, while Rehkow’s net average of 49.7 yards per punt would also be a single-season NFL record.
While his performances have been impressive, he hasn’t been perfect – Rehkow’s ratio of three touchbacks to two punts inside the 20-yard-line isn’t the greatest.
Nevertheless, it did push the Bengals to cut incumbent punter Brad Robbins after he was cleared to return from injury.
Rehkow’s performances have been one of the few bright spots in what has been a rough start to the season for the Bengals.
The team opened the season with a disappointing home loss to the New England Patriots, and then followed it up with a close defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.
While many expected the Bengals to get things back on track against the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football, they were outplayed and fell 38-33.
The Bengals finally registered their first win of the campaign, a 34-24 win over the Carolina Panthers, and they’ll look to make it two in a row against the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday.