The Cincinnati Bengals took one of their super-obvious targets in the 2024 NFL draft’s fourth round, adding Iowa’s Erick All at No. 115.
All was yet another top-30 visit for the Bengals, which so far has almost guaranteed that they select the prospect.
But All might be more interesting than any other pick in the class through four rounds. He’s a local Fairfield, Ohio, prospect at 6’4″ and 252 pounds who appears to have a very well-rounded game.
ESPN’s Steve Muench summed up All’s game in a way that the Bengals surely agreed with on their own reports:
All suffered season-ending injuries each of the past two years, but there’s a lot to like about his tape. He runs hard and can make the first defender miss after the catch. He tracks the ball well and has the speed to make plays down the seam. All is smooth getting in and out of breaks as a route runner. He has the ability to make contested catches over the middle. He gets good initial pop as a blocker in the run game.
The problem, though, is those injury woes, as noted by Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic:
You can rarely go wrong with Iowa tight ends.
The big question with All will be health. Underwent "life-changing spinal surgery," in 2022, according to @dpbrugler. Then tore his ACL last season.
But yes, if healthy, he looks the part.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) April 27, 2024
The medical questions could mean All redshirts as a rookie while recovering. That meshes with the fact the team added Mike Gesicki in free agency and re-signed Tanner Hudson and Drew Sample, too.
One’s opinion on this pick will mostly come down to value vs. risk, then. It’s perhaps worth wondering if the team might have been able to get All a little later in the draft. But the counterpoint is that another player picked in the fourth round might not have seen the field much, either.
This is very much going to be one of those hindsight evaluations. In a few years’ time, All could very easily be the team’s top tight end and a legit threat on every down.
Right now, it’s a high-upside gamble just outside the top 100 and doesn’t necessarily stop the team from addressing the position again later.
