Bengals fail to address biggest roster hole as trade deadline passes
The Cincinnati Bengals proved their roster can compete for a Super Bowl title this past week. Nearly all the pieces are in place to make yet another deep postseason run. But one glaring weakness remains, and as the trade deadline is now history, the Bengals did nothing to remedy it. The absolute worst tight end group […]
The Cincinnati Bengals proved their roster can compete for a Super Bowl title this past week. Nearly all the pieces are in place to make yet another deep postseason run.
But one glaring weakness remains, and as the trade deadline is now history, the Bengals did nothing to remedy it.
The absolute worst tight end group in the NFL still belongs to the Bengals, and there's pretty much nothing they can do about it now.
Outside of any surprise free agent signings, the Bengals are riding with the trio of Irv Smith Jr., Drew Sample, and Mitchell Wilcox, a trio that strikes zero fear in the hearts of any opposing defensive coordinator.
Smith is Pro Football Focus' lowest-graded receiving tight end in the NFL with at least 10 targets to his name. Only one other tight end has a lower yards per route run average. Only one has just as high of a drop percentage. He's been Terrible with a capital T.
Sample and Wilcox are nothing more than blocking reserves, seeing the field for that purpose and as mere decoys in the pass game. They have a combined 27 yards on six receptions.
Defenses simply do not care about them. They would rather guard anyone else, which makes the offense worse than it should be, and that's the frustrating part. They were a good offense despite them this past Sunday.
Cincinnati took it to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8 as playmakers Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Joe Mixon all played great. Joe Burrow looked like the quarterback everyone knows him to be as well. The team stood on its business as a contender in the AFC, and the timing couldn't have been better to make a simple transaction at the deadline to improve its biggest weakness.
And like they always do aside from being absolutely forced, they stood pat with their future draft picks.
Perhaps there's a minuscule silver lining to be found here. No tight ends were dealt at the deadline this year despite several names listed as potential candidates. Mo Alie-Cox, Hunter Henry, Logan Thomas, and everyone else stayed put for their respective teams. Pretty much any of them would've made the Bengals better.
The flip side is damning. Overall inactivity in this market would've made any of them cheap to acquire if there was legitimate interest in their teams letting them go.
Nothing about this is new to the Bengals, who rarely make player-for-pick trades in the first place. They've always stood firm on hoarding as many picks as possible for maximum flexibility. But if there were ever a time to bend, parting ways with a late-round pick to boost a porous position group in the midst of a Super Bowl hunt was the time to do it.
The Bengals didn't strike out swinging at the deadline. They watched three strikes go across the plate as they sat in the dugout.
Five winners from Bengals’ Week 8 victory vs. 49ers
A couple players on offense who needed great performances absolutely delivered.
