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Cincinnati Bengals: Early 53-man roster predictions 2018, tight ends

By Kenn Korb

CINCINNATI, OH - DECEMBER 4: Tyler Eifert #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals catches a pass over the defense of Rodney McLeod #23 of the Philadelphia Eagles during the second quarter at Paul Brown Stadium on December 4, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - DECEMBER 4: Tyler Eifert #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals catches a pass over the defense of Rodney McLeod #23 of the Philadelphia Eagles during the second quarter at Paul Brown Stadium on December 4, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Moving on with our offseason early 53-man roster predictions for the 2018 Cincinnati Bengals, the focus now shifts to the tight ends.

The Cincinnati Bengals are looking to get back on their feet after a disappointing 2017 campaign. As they look to do so, that means improving the roster. In the doldrums of the offseason currently though, they are looking at a big roster that will ultimately be whittled down for the regular season.

With the rosters as full as they can be, now is a great time for an early look at who the team may decide is worthy of those coveted 53 available spots once the regular season kicks off. We have already seen the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers.

Next up, the tight ends.

Tight Ends

* = starters; + = make roster

*Tyler Eifert
Moritz Bohringer
+Carter Cethan
Jordan Franks
Ryan Hewitt
+Tyler Kroft
Mason Schreck
+C.J. Uzomah

Tyler Eifert has had a star-crossed career. When healthy he is among the elites at his position: in 13 games in 2015, he had 52 catches for 615 yards and 13 touchdown catches. The problem with Eifert is and always will be his health: he’s missed more games (41) than he’s played (39) across his five season career. Should he remain healthy this year, it wouldn’t be crazy to think he could provide a 16-game prorated version of his 2016 season: 58 catches, 788 yards, 10 touchdowns.

Of course, it’d be crazy to expect him to stay healthy all season though. When Eifert does go down, Kroft has at least proven to be a capable facsimile of him (seven touchdowns on 42 receptions). The team should consider using both of them together more often this year, particularly in short yardage and the red zone.

Uzomah has never shown much in terms of production, but like Kroft he has been around for awhile as depth. His athleticism apparently really intrigues Cincinnati, because despite only catching 36 passes in three seasons he’s stuck around without much issue.

The big change from recent years would be going with Carter over Hewitt. Both were on last year’s roster, but Hewitt has been here since 2014. In all that time though, he has just 22 catches, and has seen his usage drop in recent years even with injuries above him.

Carter isn’t much of a receiver either, but he does give the team someone who has both blocking chops and can work at tight end or out of the backfield (which is useful, since this team doesn’t keep a tight end). With one year in tow and a skill set unique to this roster, he has a good shot to overtake Hewitt for that H-back slot.

Next: NFL 2018: Rookie class bold predictions

Bohringer, Schreck, and Franks each fall into the same boat Uzomah and Kroft were in together prior to 2017: limited, unproven options. While Kroft showed glimpses of something more, there’s nothing here to provide any hope of these players having much more to offer than what Cincinnati’s long-term backup tight ends did for most of their tenure with the franchise.

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