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A wide-open Andrei Iosivas lunged high in the air on a slant in the end zone to catch his first NFL touchdown on a 7-yard toss from quarterback Jake Browning in the Cincinnati Bengals’ 21-19 loss to the Washington Commanders in an NFL preseason game on Saturday.
An even brighter thing happened to him Tuesday when he made the Bengals’ 53-man roster, one of six receivers on the squad.
Iosivas starred in track and field and football at Punahou, graduating in 2017, and then was a standout in both sports at Princeton.
“It means the world to me,” Iosivas messaged Bedrock Sports Hawaii on Tuesday. “I’ve worked so hard to get to this step in my life, but I believe this is just the beginning for me. This wouldn’t be possible without the sacrifice from my family and their continuous support and love.”
According to multiple media reports, he’s been very impressive since he arrived in Cincinnati as a sixth-round draft pick.
And Iosivas is getting things done with a great combination of size (6 feet 3, 212 pounds), speed (4.43-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine) and athleticism. He holds the Hawaii state meet record in the 200-meter dash (21.67) and owns three ILH meet records — the 100 (10.71), 200 (21.66) and long jump (24 feet).
The following assessment of Iosivas is from StripeHype.com:
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Andrei Iosivas has been the most impressive piece so far throughout the Bengals training camp and preseason. Iosivas has shown off his overall size, speed, and ability to attack the football in the open field and make catches at all three levels.
Iosivas will have to continue to work his way up the depth chart, but it isn’t crazy to think that he has already planted himself at the very least as a WR5 behind Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Trenton Irwin.
Iosivas and Charlie Jones could pose as some critical future pieces at the WR position, which is why seeing production now is very promising. In three preseason games, Iosivas managed to have 12 receptions, 129 yards, and a touchdown. He led the Bengals in receiving in two out of the three games.
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Below is a Cincinnati Bengals YouTube video of Iosivas’ TD and some postgame comments.
Iosivas, who did the “griddy” celebration after the TD, was prompted to do so by star receiver Ja’Marr Chase, according to BengalsWire.USAToday.com.
Led by quarterback Joe Burrow and Chase and many other stars, the Bengals’ offense is explosive. They are predicted to contend for a spot in the Super Bowl once again. Two seasons ago, they lost in Super Bowl 56 to the Los Angeles Rams, 23-20. Last season, they lost by that same score in the AFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl 57 winning Kansas City Chiefs.
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