Mohamed Sanu: Rutgers grad moving up Bengals' depth chart

Mohamed Sanu, the rookie wide receiver from Rutgers University, is moving up in the pecking order amongst Cincinnati Bengals' wide receivers.

Sanu, drafted in the third round by the Bengals (83rd overall) after a record-setting career at Rutgers, has only five catches, but all have come in the Bengals' last two games. After playing only 18 total snaps the first two weeks of the season, Sanu has played more recently.

Here is Josh Kirkendall of Cincy Jungle talking about Sanu:

Mohamed Sanu has only played 49 snaps this year on offense, largely due to Cincinnati's inability to figure out a more standardize role for the third-round rookie receiver. Do they play him in the slot, stretch him out wide? It took until the seventh week of the 2012 regular season before posting his first NFL pass, so far generating five receptions for 56 yards receiving in the previous two games combined. With an overall ineffective passing game among receivers not named A.J. Green, Sanu is starting to experience increasing playing time -- 31 snaps in the past two games.

"Mo brings a certain skill set to the table and he's by all accounts proven himself worthy of playing football," wide receivers coach James Urban said. "The game's not too big for him, I can tell you that much."

Here is more from Urban, this from the official Sanu bio in the Bengals' media guide.

"Mo is very crafty. He has a great knack for sticking his foot in the ground and using his big body to get in between the defender and the ball. He uses his body very well. He has a great natural instinct in zone, a good feel for where the zones are and how to stick and slide in zone. He has great hands too."

Mohamed Sanu Stats

Receptions: 5
Yards: 56
Yards per catch: 11.2
Long: 34

Other Rutgers connections

-- Bengals' running back Brian Leonard played for Rutgers, as did long snapper Clark Harris.