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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Bill Riccette

Bengals must use Mike Gesicki more to save season, says NFL analyst

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki has quietly worked his way back into a solid role on offense following the injuries to WR Tee Higgins and rookie TE Erick All.

Over the last three weeks, Gesicki has totaled 23 targets and has caught 16 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns (both in Week 9). Before this stretch, Gesicki had seen more than five targets just once in the previous four weeks.

Higgins will likely return this week against the Chargers, but Gesicki should remain a constant in the Bengals’ offense. That’s at least the thought from the scouting department over at Bleacher Report.

B/R recently named a roster weakness for each team and named one more each team has to do now. In this case, it’s keeping Gesicki on the field as the Bengals look to still make a playoff push at 4-6, just one game behind the 5-5 Denver Broncos:

With Tee Higgins out for another game, Mike Gesicki saw a huge uptick in playing time and role in the passing game. According to PFF, the tight end was on the field for 58 snaps, ran 45 routes and saw nine targets.

He only turned it into four catches for 30 yards, but that would ignore the fact that he turned 14 targets into 12 catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the previous two weeks.

Gesicki has proven that he is one of the Bengals most dynamic receivers even when Tee Higgins returns to the lineup. He might not bring a lot of blocking to the table, but he should continue to be on the field for the majority of the pass plays.

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