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Cincinnati Bengals: Tyler Eifert hype train not stopping

By Kevin Parvizi

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The Cincinnati Bengals finished the 2014 season 15th in the league in both scoring offense and net yards per pass attempt, so it’s safe to say that Andy Dalton led an average offense with a poor 19:17 TD:INT ratio on his own part (Mohamed Sanu accounted for the Bengals 20th touchdown pass).

ALSO ON SPIN ZONE: Where Does Eifert Rank Among NFL’s TEs?

But the Bengals passing attack has nowhere to go but up in 2015, and it isn’t just about presumably having A.J. Green healthy for the full 16. Key pass-catchers Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert basically missed the entire 2014 season, and Jones was supposed to be a breakout candidate in 2014 after putting up over 700 receiving yards with ten touchdowns in 2013.

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Jones was seen as the Bengals offensive player with the best breakout potential in 2014, and as we head into the 2015 season, that honor has been passed to Eifert. The former first-round pick out of Notre Dame was robbed of his sophomore season, which- as the likes of Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, Zach Ertz, and Travis Kelce have shown us- is usually a big year for touted and athletic tight ends.

We saw how Graham and Gronk became 90-catch superstars as second-year players, and both Ertz and Kelce were dominant last season, particularly on a “per target” basis. Kelce never played as a rookie due to an injury, and the other three tight ends flashed as rookies but didn’t look like stars.

Everyone knows that tight end isn’t an easy position to transition to, and it’s easy to forget that Eifert showed off potential in his first season in the league. According to Advanced Football Analytics, he was second on the team with a 65% catch rate in 2013 and averaged 7.4 yards per target, which placed him third among Bengals pass-catchers that season.

His five drops, as per Pro Football Focus, hurt, but those didn’t mar his high catch rate as a rookie who wasn’t a big part of the offense. He was in the top-half among tight ends in yards per route run, confirming Eifert’s status as a promising and efficient rookie pass-catcher who moved the chains while flashing the playmaking potential that made him a first-round selection.

Jeremy Hill is coming off of an amazing rookie season, but he played so well that he already “broke out” and might even be a top ten back in this league. So it’s clear that the Bengals best breakout candidate on offense is Tyler Eifert, and no player on the team has been hyped up more than the 6’6″, 250-pound 24-year-old who caught 39 passes in his first season in the NFL. And that hype train hasn’t come close to stopping, so you might as well hop on the bandwagon now.

After all, Bengals official site beat writer Geoff Hobson wrote yesterday that Eifert is on a “torrid stretch” that remains unimpeded, and perhaps the most remarkable training camp observation was Hobson’s note that “nobody has been able to cover” the potentially imposing threat. The Bengals have some of the game’s best safeties and are an elite unit when it comes to covering tight ends, and while it’s just training camp, that nugget is as encouraging of a statement as they come.

Hobson added that Dalton has been hitting up Eifert in key situations, pointing out two passes, including the touchdown toss, on a drive at practice. This note is equally encouraging, because Dalton, who only seemed to have eyes for his primary receiver last year, needs to consistently get the ball to Eifert in order for the TE to have a third-year breakout. As the cliche goes, it takes two to tango, and it’s clear that, at least in the early going, Dalton is willing to “help Eifert help him”.

Jan 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2014 AFC Wild Card playoff football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Dalton said of his “new” weapon, “Go back and look at his college tape and he’s splitting out wide, jumping over guys and making catches. We feel like he matches up well with the all the guys he’s going to face.”

If we see anything less than that from Eifert, then we’ll likely end up considering that a disappointment, and some of the blame could go to the Bengals and/or Dalton. Eifert clearly has the tools to be the No. 2 target in the offense and relieve some big-time pressure off of Green, but it also remains to be seen exactly how the targets follow behind Green with Jones, Sanu, and even RB Giovani Bernanrd competing with Eifert for looks. I’d say that based on the positive reviews and the fact that Dalton has been specifically looking for his talented TE, Eifert is well on his way to being the No. 2 option.

Now fully healthy and with legit NFL experience under his belt, Eifert, who has great physical tools and can make tough plays in traffic, looks ready to shine.

Next: Is Dalton Under The Most Pressure In 2015?

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