Daniel Pope

        The Bengals' special teams makeover was completed Tuesday when incumbent punter Brad Costello was waived. Second-year pro Daniel Pope is the new punter.

        Pope was signed early in training camp after being let go by Kansas City, where he had unseated veteran Louie Aguiar to punt and hold in all 16 Chiefs games last season.

        Cincinnati also has a new kicker, Neil Rackers, and a new long snapper, Brad St.Louis. Rackers, who made the team Monday when seven-year veteran Doug Pelfrey was waived, will kick field goals and extra points and will handle kickoff duties.

        St.Louis replaces four players who snapped on punts, field goals and extra points in 1999.

        The kicking game was one of the Bengals' weakest positions a year ago. Inconsistency at holder and snapper contributed to Pelfrey's worst season as a pro. The team used its sixth-round draft pick to take Rackers out of the University of Illinois and got St. Louis in the seventh round out of Southwest Missouri State.

        “We knew we had a problem last year, and we suffered through it,” coach Bruce Coslet said. “We're working toward the goal of it not happening again.

        “We think (Pope's) a good kicker. It was a close contest.”

        Pope punted 101 times for Kansas City, averaging 41.8 yards a kick and pinning 20 balls inside the 20-yard line. Costello and Will Brice, the Bengals punters, had 13 punts inside the 20.

        This preseason, Pope has a 41.9-yard average and has pinned two of his seven punts inside the 20.

        “I think I was real consistent,” Pope said Tuesday. “I think the fact I held for Neil and have a little chemistry going, the fact I punted a whole year last year.”

        Pope, Rackers and St. Louis have the first three cubicles to the immediate left of the entrance to the team's locker room. Pope was Rackers' holder in training camp.

        “Brad, Neil and I have it down,” Pope said of the precision of the snap, hold and kick. “It's come along a lot faster than I thought it would. A lot of times when you switch in and out, it takes you a little bit. But we were out there today, and we were getting it up there quick.”

        Pope, 25, who's 5-foot-10, 203 pounds and played at Alabama, is a good fit with the Bengals, special teams coach Al Roberts said.

        “He's real quick to get the ball off, and his punts are high,” Roberts said. “He has great hands on the hold. He can run and pass if we need him to do that. He's a real fine athlete.”

        Pope, who has not kicked off, still has a soft touch on the onside kick and will learn how to kick deep, Roberts said. Pope will work on his kickoffs in the offseason.

        Roberts is also high on Rackers and St. Louis, who is the Bengals' fourth-string tight end.

        “They're all natural athletes,” Roberts said. “St.Louis has been snapping since he was in the seventh grade. Rackers has a strong leg. We can do a lot of things with those three guys.”

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