Bengals need Mike Gesicki more to save season, NFL analyst says

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

Over the past three weeks, Gesicki has racked up 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 goals 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. At least that’s the idea from the scouting department over at Bleacher Report.

B/R recently pinpointed a weakness on the roster for each team and mentioned one more that each team needs to address now. In this case, 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 increase 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 that 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 to be one of the Bengals’ most dynamic receivers, even with Tee Higgins returning to the lineup. He may not bring a lot of blocking to the table, but he should continue to be on the field for the majority of the passing plays.