Cincinnati Bengals: Tyler Eifert Key to the Offense in 2016
The Cincinnati Bengals won the AFC North in 2015 and tied a franchise record with 12 regular-season wins. But it’s been a tricky offseason for this talented club.
It’s that time when teams are deciding on whether to pick up that fifth-year option on their first-round draft choices from 2013.
This week, the Cincinnati Bengals made a no-brainer move.
Via NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the franchise will make sure former Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert (the 21st overall selection in the draft in ’13) isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
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“We had very high expectations for Tyler when we drafted him, and he has met them all,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said Wednesday via a team statement (and documented by Chris Wesseling of NFL.com). “He’s a hugely important part of our team as we go forward.”
That may be an understatement. Given the offseason by the Bengals, it was obviously a sound decision. Cincinnati lost wide receivers Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu in free agency to the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, respectively. The former finished second on the club with 65 catches and 816 yards, while scoring four touchdowns. Sanu did not reach the end zone in 2015, but still hauled in 33 receptions for 394 yards.
Now the 6’6”, 250-pound Eifert may be even more important to Lewis, new offensive coordinator Ken Zampese and quarterback Andy Dalton. He comes off a Pro Bowl campaign in which he not only finished third on the club in grabs (52) and receiving yards (615) but hauled in a team-high 13 touchdown passes.
For now, he and start wide receiver A.J. Green is the team’s 1-2 punch in terms of the passing attack. Dalton (25) and backup quarterback A.J. McCarron (6) combined for 31 scoring strike this past season, 23 of those to the Green/Eifert contingent.
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Of course, this is a Cincinnati offense not devoid of weapons. The team has one of the best 1-2 tandems in the backfield in Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill. The former is very versatile and this past season Bernard caught 49 passes for 472 yards. The Bengals feature one of the most balanced attacks in the league.
As for the losses of Jones and Sanu, the team (at least for now) has offset them with the signing of Brandon LaFell, released by the Patriots this offseason following an injury-riddled 2015. He has shown in the past that he’s capable of good things, but he never got untracked this past year.
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Meanwhile, Eifert was one of the better comeback stories of 2015. As a rookie three years ago, he played in 15 games and caught 39 passes for 445 yards and two scores. The following season, he totaled three receptions for 37 yards in Week 1 but was injured and lost for the remainder of the year.
So 2015 proved to be a bounce back year for the former Golden Domer. Now Eifert will be taking on a much bigger role as the Bengals break in some new talent at wide receivers – be it LaFell or a youngster they grab in the draft. And look for Dalton to be looking his tight end’s way even more this upcoming season.