Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert will undergo ankle surgery today, which could sideline him for the first few games of the NFL season.
The Bengals will open their regular season on Sept. 11 in a road game against the New York Jets before visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2.
Initial reports put the recovery time around three months, while others say that it may be closer to four months.
Eifert injured the ankle in the Pro Bowl on Jan. 31 and was forced to wear a boot after the game as a result. Though early tests were promising, the surgery is related to the injury. Eifert had been working in Cincinnati's voluntary workouts in April, raising hopes that he would not have to go under the knife. Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case.
This comes as a big blow to the Bengals and to fantasy football owners. The tight end position has traditionally been a very thin spot to fill on fantasy rosters. Outside of the top five or so guys (Rob Gronkowski, Jordan Reed, Greg Olsen, Delanie Walker, Eifert, Travis Kelce), fantasy TEs become relatively interchangeable with few players providing consistent production from week to week. Eifert was expected to be among the elite players at his position in 2016 after an impressive season last year.
Last month, the Bengals announced that they were exercising the fifth-year option on Eifert. That was likely due to the 52 passes, 615 yards and team-high 13 touchdowns that he produced in 2015. Though Eifert wasn't expected to maintain that scoring rate, he was expected to see more targets with both Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones leaving in free agency.
But the uncertainty caused by Eifert's injury, as well as the notorious nature of ankle/foot ailments, bumps Eifert out of the top five at the position. Injury expert Russell Manalastas said that players who go through this sort of surgery often deal with secondary issues such as sore Achilles. He believes that Eifert will miss two games and perhaps even three.
Fantasy owners would be wise to wait on Eifert until after the eighth round. That may change as more details about his recovery emerge, but for now, best to err on the side of caution.
