Things happen quickly in the NFL. Take the Cincinnati Bengals, for instance. After investing two first-round picks in tight ends over a three-year period, the team thought it was set at the position for a nice long while. But 2013 first-rounder Tyler Eifert missed all but one game with an injury this season, while 2010 draft pick Jermaine Gresham produced a career low 7.4 yards per catch. Now, what was thought to be a strength has become a potential weakness.
Will Cincy look to upgrade the position yet again this offseason?
"Tyle Eifert's talent alone dictates that he land in the top 10 [most valuable players] for this team, but is he durable enough to survive a full season? Will he be back to full health in 2015? We can't be sure," Paul Dehner Jr. of Cincinnati.com wrote.
"...Jermaine Gresham is all talent, no trust. His inability to play through injury and continued mistakes with fumbles and penalties make for a good possibility that he and the team part ways."
Quarterback Andy Dalton is an impressive 40-23-1 in his career as a starter, but has been criticized heavily for his play in the postseason in which he is 0-4. The Bengals surely thought that providing him with two top-flight tight ends would help elevate his game. With Gresham likely gone this offseason, will they look to replace him?
"Though it seems likely to me that Gresham won't return, it might not be a foregone conclusion," ESPN Bengals reporter Coley Harvey wrote.
"I caught up with offensive coordinator Hue Jackson in Cincinnati the afternoon before he left for Super Bowl Week festivities in Arizona, and he didn't close the door on Gresham remaining a Bengal. [OC Hue] Jackson said there was still a place for the embattled tight end in Cincinnati, but that it ultimately depends upon negotiations. Again, I still have my doubts, but you never know. Like I mentioned above, [Jordan] Cameron could make a good free-agent target at the position. But there are also a number of good tight ends in this draft class, so the Bengals might have to act quickly to take one. Can we safely say they do it in the first three or four rounds, though? No. Remember, Cincinnati likes to draft based off talent available. 'Potential need' is secondary."
