Factoid
I think the Bengals are hell bent on getting their tight ends more involved. Over the last four years, only Arizona has completed fewer passes to tight ends, and no team has thrown fewer touchdowns.
The charts are below. You can see Cincinnati has thrown only 4 TDs to tight ends in the last four years, fewer than half as many as any other team.
But look at Cincinnati’s last two drafts. They selected Chase Coffman in the third round a year ago. He was a pass-catching tight end at Missouri, hauling in 90 catches and 10 TDs in his final season. I don’t know that he’ll ever do anything in the pros – he doesn’t block well enough – but the intent was there.
Now the Bengals have used their first-round pick on Jermaine Gresham. He caught 66 passes for 950 yards and 14 TDs in his final season at Oklahoma (he didn’t play last year because of a knee injury). Gresham offers the same kind of pop as a receiver but brings better size and athleticism to the table – he should be a big-time player.
Cincinnati’s days of ignorning the tight end, it seems, are over.
TIGHT ENDS, RECEPTIONS, 2006-2009
Rec
416 Dallas
412 Indianapolis
337 Cleveland
333 San Diego
329 Kansas City
325 Chicago
320 New Orleans
310 Washington
288 San Francisco
283 Houston
279 Green Bay
277 Tampa Bay
276 Tennessee
266 Denver
264 Oakland
262 Miami
259 Philadelphia
257 Baltimore
255 Jacksonville
245 NY Giants
245 Pittsburgh
235 Atlanta
217 Minnesota
210 NY Jets
203 New England
196 Carolina
194 Detroit
191 Seattle
183 Buffalo
173 St. Louis
159 Cincinnati
119 Arizona
TIGHT ENDS, TOUCHDOWNS, 2006-2009
TD
41 San Diego
34 Indianapolis
34 Chicago
29 Washington
27 Pittsburgh
27 Green Bay
26 San Francisco
26 Kansas City
25 Tampa Bay
25 Denver
25 NY Giants
25 New England
24 Miami
24 Minnesota
23 Baltimore
23 Atlanta
23 Philadelphia
22 Seattle
22 Dallas
21 Houston
18 Cleveland
15 Carolina
15 Jacksonville
14 Buffalo
14 NY Jets
13 New Orleans
13 Detroit
12 Arizona
11 Oakland
10 Tennessee
10 St. Louis
4 Cincinnati
—Ian Allan
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