2008 vs. 2007 Personnel Comparison - Tight Ends

Finally...a position that has improved.  After the last two "Personnel Comparison" articles concluding that our offensive line will consist of the same six linemen as it did last year despite our poor running game the past two seasons, there seems to be a new golden nugget (or maybe even two) at tight end.  The Bengals have been in need of improvement at the tight end position for years.  The only two solid tight ends that I can remember during my 28-year old lifetime are Rodney Holman and Tony McGee.  And if you are thinking of Matt Schobel, then you either work for our favorite football team or your standards have been beaten down over the years because of our longtime inadequacy at the position.

TIGHT END

2007 Starting Tight End - Reggie Kelly

2007 Backup Tight Ends - Daniel Coats, Nate Lawrie

2008 Projected Starting Tight End - Reggie Kelly

2008 Projected Backup Tight Ends - Ben Utecht, Matt Sherry

Our statistics at tight end were laughable last year.  Between Reggie Kelly and Daniel Coats, who combined caught 32 passes for 333 yards and 0 touchdowns, our tight end statistics ranked as follows out of the 32 NFL teams:

Receptions: 30th

Yards: 31st

Touchdowns: Tied for last

Reggie Kelly returns as the incumbent starter.  Since becoming a Bengal, Kelly has become known as a leader in the locker room and a solid blocker.  Last offseason, when Kelly was an unrestricted free agent, Carson Palmer publicly encouraged the Bengals front office to re-sign the tight end.  Although Kelly helps out the running game, he isn't much of a threat in the passing game.  His Bengal career high was in 2006 when he caught 21 balls for 254 yards and 1 touchdown.  Let's just say that Kelly is not exactly flying off the board in any fantasy leagues.

Recognizing our lack of a pass catching threat at tight end, the Bengals did something that they should do much more often. They signed a free agent at a position where one was badly needed in Ben Utecht. Utecht caught 32 balls last year for 364 yards and 1 touchdown last year, single handedly surpassing the stats of our tight ends. He was able to do this even with tight end Dallas Clark starting over him for the Indianapolis Colts. Utecht showed he can spread the field and potentially be an option for Carson Palmer that he has never really had. Adding Utecht should provide a nice, desperately needed spark for our offense.

Further, in the 2008 NFL draft, we picked up Matt Sherry, a tight end from Villanova, in the 6th round.  Marvin Lewis has spoken highly of Sherry stating that he is a solid receiver and the team hopes that he will continue to develop into a fine blocker. "The Chickster" even reported that Sherry specifically impressed Marvin in one-on-one workouts against linebackers and safeties enough to make Marvin say “Wow”. While off-season optimism should be cautioned due to the past empty hyping of players such as Tab Perry, Bennie Brazel and others, considering our poor performance at the tight end position the last few seasons, we should be happy with our acquisition, draft pick and attempt at improving the position. We’ve allowed Reggie Kelly to focus on blocking and hopefully ensured that we will have at least one quality receiving tight end on the field on Sundays. This should add a welcomed new twist to our offense.

Final Prognosis: IMPROVED