Chidobe Awuzie: “I saw an opportunity in Cincinnati”

The Cincinnati Bengals needed to address the secondary this offseason, so they brought in Chidobe Awuzie.

In 2021, the Bengals will have Trae Waynes, Mike Hilton, and Awuzie starting at corner. When the season kicks off in September, they will all make their first starts for the Bengals against the Minnesota Vikings.

How have the Bengals been able to attract these free agent cornerbacks? For Awuzie, it was loyalty.

“They were the first team to hit me up and everything made me feel like I could come in here and excel to the best of my ability and help this team win,” he said, via the Bengals website.

Geoff Hobson said that the Bengals reached out to him in the first day of free agency. Awuzie committed to the Bengals that night.

“One thing stuck with me,” said Awuzie, “when Coach Taylor told me that one thing for sure is they have all the right guys in the locker room and when I come in I’ll see it for myself. So far, that hasn’t been a fib or coach talk. Coach Taylor spoke the truth. That makes players more comfortable when you have a coach telling you the truth.”

Awuzie played with the Cowboys the last four years, but wanted a fresh start somewhere else.

“I had a tough time getting into a rhythm last year with the injuries,” Awuzie said. “I saw an opportunity in Cincinnati where you have a great young team with a lot of players that want to win. I just felt it in my bones about this team.”

He echoes what many recent signees have said about the Bengals’ organization. They all just want to win.

Hopefully this year, they have all the pieces to finally make that dream of winning come true.