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At the conclusion of the 2014 NFL draft, the Cincinnati Bengals signed fullback Nikita Whitlock to their offseason roster. It's not unusual for the Bengals to have a few fullbacks on their 90-man squad. But as usual with every offseason, the Bengals chipped away their fullback roster until it's completely dissolved. At the end of the day, they have a blocking-specific tight end playing fullback -- Ryan Hewitt is actually a good one, so they made the right choice.
As usual, with appreciative players just willing to do whatever it takes to make a roster, the Bengals putzed with Whitlock by changing him from nose tackle at Wake Forest to fullback in Cincinnati. How many times has that ever worked? Hewitt was actually trained to play fullback and tight end. Eric Henderson, Jason Shirley, anyone?
Whitlock was released. Once he cleared waivers in September, the Dallas Cowboys announced that he had signed with their practice squad. He was has since been released, then re-signed, and then released again.
Now he's suspended.
Former Wake Forest and Bengals fullback Nikita Whitlock has been suspended by the NFL for the next four games. He's a free agent
— Aaron Wilson (@RavensInsider) November 22, 2014
We're not aware of the violation (and our Google-fu is strong, bro), but we're willing to bet that it had something to do with a drug that the league had banned... thinking there's a violation of the performance-enhancing drug policy.
Whitlock played 44 snaps on offense during every preseason game with the Bengals. According to Pro Football Focus' grading scale, he scored a +2.1 overall and a +1.9 run blocking.