Darrin Simmons Describes His Ideal Punter As Cincinnati Hints At Adding Competition For Drue Chrisman

The Bengals may be shopping for a new punter this offseason, or at least some competition for incumbent starter Drue Chrisman.

The undrafted free agent put Cincinnati in a rough spot with a low final punt of the season against Kansas City. It set up the Chiefs' game-winning score in the AFC Championship Game thanks to a 29-yard return from Skyy Moore that put KC at midfield.

Darrin Simmons dove into what the team will look for when evaluating potential new punters this offseason.

"The true measure of a specialist, especially a punter or a kicker is the consistency," Simmons said on Wednesday. "Our climate figures into that too. Sometimes it's more difficult to take somebody or have somebody that's played in the south or played in warm weather climates a lot.

"But I think we're also looking for somebody that can get the ball up in the air with a level of hangtime that's acceptable for me. And so there's a couple of big traits. Obviously, they've got to mesh well with Evan (McPherson) too. You know, I thought Drue did a really good job of coming in here and holding for the whole year."

Cincinnati signed Chrisman as an undrafted free agent in 2021. Last season, he averaged 47.8 yards per punt (13th in NFL). It was good enough to finish 20th among all punters in punting EPA (0.01).

The Bengals will probably at least add a college-free agent or veteran to compete with the Ohio State product.