Cincinnati Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham clearly hasn’t lived up to his billing as a first-round pick, but the former Oklahoma standout doesn’t deserve the amount of criticism he’s received from Bengals fans. He probably isn’t going to be back next season after hitting the free agent waters, but he has been quietly solid for the Bengals this season, particularly as a blocker. With Tyler Eifert out, Gresham has been the team’s full-time tight end, and while he doesn’t make any splash plays, the fact of the matter is that he has to be the chain-mover over the middle in order to take pressure off of A.J. Green and Mohamed Sanu, who are averaging 15.2 and 14.5 yards per reception respectively.
While Green and Sanu have been stretching the field vertically for the Bengals offense, Gresham hasn’t run many deep routes this season. In fact, per Advanced Football Analytics, he’s been targeted just 6.5% of the time on passes traveling at least 15 yards through the air, so it’s not surprising to see that he’s averaging just 7.6 yards per reception. Andy Dalton needs a safety blanket, though, and Gresham has been pretty reliable this season.
Not only did he catch all five passes thrown at him in last week’s three-pick day from Dalton, but he’s been catching most of what’s been thrown at him this season. That’s to be expected when you are averaging under eight yards per reception, but Gresham’s 75.8% catch rate has still been a nice positive for the Bengals offense. The caveat here is that he’s also averaging just 5.7 yards per target, so the offense trades efficiency for safety whenever Dalton targets him. But that’s really all Gresham is good for in the passing game; he’s the safety valve. Gresh does have 47 receptions this season, which is already more than the 46 he caught last year.
Gresham derives most of his value in the blocking department, and that’s where he’s most important to this Bengals offense. Hue Jackson hasn’t dialed up as many running plays as possible, but it’s still important for there to be a TE who can do some dirty work and help Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard find holes. Gresham isn’t an excellent run blocker, but he’s an above-average one.
Tight ends are asked to block for the running backs more often than they are asked to protect the passer, since, you know, they spend most of their times actually running routes on passing downs. But Gresham has been asked to stay in and pass block the second-highest number of times in the NFL this season, per the Pro Football Focus, and it seems like he’s done a great job in that phase of the game. I mean, he has only allowed one hurry on the year with no hits or sacks surrendered, which means he’s been more efficient as a pass blocker than Dwayne Allen, Martellus Bennett, Jason Witten, and C.J. Fiedorowicz (just to name four). Is he better than those guys as a pass blocker? At this point, I would say “yes”. I mean, to give up just one pressure on 87 snaps as a pass blocker is pretty darn impressive, and his value as a pass protector cannot be undervalued at this point.
It’s always interesting to evaluate a player like Jermaine Gresham, because he contributes in the facets of the game that most tight ends aren’t recognized for. We tend to think of top pass-catching tight ends as players who can haul in TDs or make big plays due to their athleticism. Gresham clearly doesn’t make big plays, and his two touchdowns this season put him on pace for a career-low in that category. But Gresham presents himself as a reliable target, making him about a league-average pass-catching TE. He’s clearly above the average as a blocker, but he does his best work in the passing game, and pass blocking isn’t widely recognized as something TEs do. Run blocking is significantly more important for tight ends, and Gresham has proven to be at least competent in that phase of the game. However, an appreciation for Gresham’s brilliance as a pass blocker is important, because that’s the kind of role he fills.
I think it’s vital to understand Gresham’s role in the offense, because I do wonder if he would be a better player if he were asked to do more as a pass-catcher. PFF keeps track of missed tackles forced, and Gresham is tied for fifth in the NFL with nine missed tackles forced among TEs, and he’s actually tied with Charles Clay in that category. With 4.5 yards after the catch per reception, Gresham gets most of his yardage on his own, but that’s also because his average depth of target is extremely low. Could he better in a role that allowed him to challenge defenses more often? Maybe, because he has talent, as evidenced by his first-round pedigree. But, again, that isn’t his role in the Bengals offense, so we have to contextualize his statistical performances instead of slamming him incessantly with the “bust” label. Has he lived up to the billing? No, but he has still been a useful player for the Bengals.