C. J. Uzomah (born January 14, 1993 in Suwanee, Georgia) is an American football tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Auburn.
Video C. J. Uzomah
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 passing and 15 touchdowns, and ran for 800 yards and 10 more touchdowns.
Maps C. J. Uzomah
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. He majored in Marketing while at Auburn. As a freshman, he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass.
He played in both the Medal of Honor all-star game and the Senior Bowl.
Professional career
On January 3, 2015, it was reported that Uzomah would play in the Medal of Honor Bowl, along with teammates Angelo Blackson and Jermaine Whitehead. The following week, Uzomah made one reception for 29-yards to help the National team defeat the American team 26-14 in the Medal of Honor Bowl. On January 17, 2015, it was announced that Uzomah had accepted his invitation to play in the 2014 Senior Bowl. 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 wasn't one of 19 tight ends who received an invitation to perform at the NFL Combine. 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. If Uzomah would've been invited to the combine, his performance in the 40-yard dash (4.62s) would've ranked second among his position. His broad jump (9'10"),would've placed fourth, with his vertical jump (31") and bench press (19) finishing ninth among tight ends if he would've been invited to the combine. 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.
The Cincinnati Bengals selected Uzomah in the fifth round (157th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. 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.
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. Head coach Marvin Lewis named Uzomah the third tight end on the Bengals' depth chart behind Tyler Eifert and Kroft.
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. 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. He completed his rookie season with one reception for four receiving yards in five games and zero starts. 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.
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. On January 1, 2017, Uzomah scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard pass from Andy Dalton during a 27-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He completed the 2016 season with 25 receptions for 234 yards and a touchdown in ten games and eight starts.
2017
Uzomah competed with Tyler Kroft and rookies Mason Schreck and Cethan Carter throughout training camp for the job as the backup tight end. Head coach Marvin Lewis named Uzomah the third tight end on the Bengals' depth chart to start the regular season.
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. 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.
Personal life
In May 2014, as Uzomah was attending Auburn University, his father, Xavier, a financial 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.
References
External links
- Auburn Tigers bio
Source of the article : Wikipedia