It was just over a year ago that Cedric Ogbuehi had his football career flash before his eyes.
It happened when the then-Texas A&M tackle saw his ACL torn during his final college game. Despite having many months of rehab ahead of him and knowing he would open the year unable to play in the NFL, Ogbuehi was still taken in the first round of the 2015 draft by the Bengals, who had targeted him going into the draft.
That kind of injury can be a career-killer for big linemen who put so much stress on their legs, so just seeing Ogbuehi get his shot to not only revive his career, but become a starting NFL lineman less than two years after the injury, will be great to see if it happens, as expected.
That is why Ogbuehi makes the list of Bengals Comeback Player of the Year candidates, just sneaking in at No. 10. While Ogbuehi did recover from his injury and play limited snaps as a rookie, he still deserves to be on this list since what we saw last year, in theory, won't be what he's like when he takes over at right tackle this year after he only appeared in five games in 2015.
In terms of Bengals who missed significant time last year due to injury, Ogbuehi may be poised for the biggest jump in production of them all. After Ogbuehi opened training camp on the Non-Football Injury list, he wasn't cleared to practice until Nov. 10.
Ogbuehi was activated to the 53-man roster later in the month, but with the Bengals already deep at tackle, he rarely saw the field during his rookie season. The next month, Ogbuehi received playing time mostly at the end of blowouts, and as a swing lineman in big formations, but never got significant snaps as the starters luckily remained healthy all season.
Now, the expectation for Ogbuehi is that he'll slide right into the starting right tackle spot this year, as Andre Smith is now fighting for that spot in Minnesota. There's also the potential he moves over to left tackle and replaces Whitworth whenever he leaves/retires in the coming years.
The blind side is where Ogbuehi played as a senior at A&M, though he also played right tackle and even guard over his four years in College Station.
But the Bengals are a team where starting spots need to be earned (unless you're Russell Bodine). Ogbuehi will have to beat out the likes of Eric Winston, Jake Fisher and possibly some of the undrafted lineman for that starting right tackle spot.
Though the path is clear, winning the job won't be easy, and Ogbuehi is going to have to fight his tail off in training camp and through the preseason to earn the right to be a starter for every game this season. Going from limited snaps in a handful of games as a rookie to being a starting tackle is a pretty good case to make our Comeback Player of the Year list.
The Bengals certainly hope Ogbuehi makes a big impact in 2016. They'll need it for their offensive line to remain among the NFL's best units.