The Bengals release of punt returner Quan Cosby was a little bit surprising, but it's nice to see that they decided to pick somebody up to replace him. That somebody is former Patriots wide receiver and return specialist Brandon Tate.
Because of Cosby's release, Tate or Jordan Shipley could be asked to be the team's punt returner. Even though returning punts is easily the most terrifying job on any football field, Tate would be happy to take the job.
Tate on punt returns: "Whatever the team wants me to do, I'll do it."
Tate could also get some reps as the team's kick returner which could cut into Bernard Scott's playing time on special teams.
When it comes to returning punts, though, Tate did a fairly impressive job while at college at North Carolina. According to a Tweet from Geoff Hobson, Tate returned 79 punts for 835 yards (a 10.6 yards per return average) and three touchdowns.
If he does return punts for the Bengals, he'll have some pretty big shoes to fill. Cosby had the highest average of yards per return in Bengals history.
Cosby's 10 yards per 70 returns put him No. 1 on #Bengals all-time list ahead of Mike Martin's 9.9.