Once again, the Cincinnati Bengals begin their season starting 0-2 after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in a heartbreaker 26-25. The orange and black played very well but settled for field goals multiple times when in the red zone. They still looked crisp offensively and the passing game showed signs of life with heavy usage of their tight ends who stole the show—the trio of Mike Gesicki, Drew Sample, and rookie Erick All Jr. were fantastic. Sample and All were employed in 12-personnel heavily against the New England Patriots in Week 1 and carried over into this week with Gesicki being the main pass-catching threat. Head coach Zac Taylor had an excellent game plan against the Chiefs with Ja’Marr Chase essentially being taken away. Let’s examine the Bengals starting tight end room and how they can help the men in stripes win games in 2024.
Tight Ends Shine for the Cincinnati Bengals Amid 0-2 Start
Mike Gesicki
Through two games, Gesicki has been everything Bengals fans could’ve hoped for in providing a viable tight end option for Joe Burrow to utilize. Cincinnati’s signal caller has shown trust in the former Patriot from the jump and Gesicki should see his target share remain steady throughout the season. He had maybe his best game as a pro against Kansas City and ended the day with seven receptions for 91 yards including a sweet 37-yard gain to put the Bengals in prime position on their first drive.
ICYMI here’s @mikegesicki with the 4th down conversion 😏
📺: #CINvsKC on CBS/@paramountplus pic.twitter.com/3A6CrfAYYJ
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 15, 2024
Erick All Jr.
The player with some of the highest potential on the entire team might just be their 2024 fourth-round pick. Burrow loves the way All plays and often speaks glowingly of the rookie. All is a great overall blocker and showed potential running routes against KC that were reminiscent of his time in Michigan and Iowa.
All had 32 yards receiving with a long of 19 yards and look for the Bengals to continue to find ways to get him the ball as he could end up being TE1 at season’s end.
Drew Sample
Recently signed Sample is one of the most forgotten players on the team. This is largely a product of doing the dirty work on the line of scrimmage as a willing blocker. On rare occasions, you see glimpses of his ability to catch passes from Burrow who always seems to find him when the moment is right. Sample and All make a solid duo through two weeks and the Bengals will lean on them in the running game as the weather starts to turn.
The Bengals run game was successful on 6/7 plays (85.7%) when lining up in 12 personnel with Erick All and Drew Sample including their only touchdown. This is their best personnel grouping and they should embrace it. pic.twitter.com/bPksQ8nygF
— mike (@bengals_sans) September 9, 2024
The Bengals can take solace in the fact they’ve been here before. They have little room for error in the next two weeks with the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers coming up. Cincinnati will need better effort all the way around and this three-headed tight-end monster might give them the boost they need to get back to .500 before a crucial divisional matchup with the Baltimore Ravens in the Jungle on October 6th.
Main Photo: Sam Greene/The Enquirer-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
