I think the Bengals front office believes Darnell Washington gives them the best of both worlds
A very capable in-line blocker and a tremendous
Match up issue for defenses in the redzone

(04-03-2023, 08:41 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I'd like Mayer but the thought of how explosive our offense would be with Washington does get me excited.

You can't cover him one-on-one but then you also can't leave Chase single-covered, and then who's left to cover Higgins and even Boyd?

And Washington can really help in the run game.
For people that really want to see the run game improve, Washington is the TE you want.

Darnell Washington in the 1st. He can line up anywhere and improves both the run and pass game. If they go another position in the first, I’d like Sam LaPorta in the 2nd. Either way, I hope they double dip at TE and snag one of Kraft, Whyle, Schoonmaker, or Kuntz.

To me there is an obvious top 3 in this TE class.

Washington is my TE 1. He is massive with somehow not sacrificing athleticism. He’s an absolute dominant run blocker. His run blocking tape has been the most fun to watch of any TE I can recall. As a receiver he’s a bull in a china shop. He has surprisingly good hands, high points the ball, fights for extra yards and punishes tacklers. His potential is through the roof and because Georgia is so loaded he doesn’t have near the wear and tear of the other top TE’s in the class. He’s also the youngest of the top TE’s. He is so good already and has a lot of room to grow which is what I think makes for an excellent 1st round prospect.

Mayer is my TE 2 and someone I would be very happy with at 28.He is the definition of well rounded. Blocks well, catches well and doesn’t go down without a fight. Very productive at Notre Dame and just has a knack for making plays. Plus he’s a local guy. My only “concerns” are he lacks the ability to separate and I think he’s pretty much reached his ceiling. But he’s very good at making contested catches so the 1st might not be a big concern.

Kincaid is the last of my top 3 and my least preferred but depending on how the board falls I could see him in play. He is the best receiving TE in the class. Great catch radius, reliable hands, goes up and gets the ball and has good speed to separate. Hes always working to get open. He’s just such a liability in run blocking that I can’t rank him any higher.

Side Note - I don’t get the Musgrave love at all. Without knowing others rankings, I would say he’s a 3rd to 4th round prospect. Definitely do not see his value in the first 2 rounds.

(04-06-2023, 12:59 PM)WhoDeyK Wrote: To me there is an obvious top 3 in this TE class.

Washington is my TE 1. He is massive with somehow not sacrificing athleticism. He’s an absolute dominant run blocker. His run blocking tape has been the most fun to watch of any TE I can recall. As a receiver he’s a bull in a china shop. He has surprisingly good hands, high points the ball, fights for extra yards and punishes tacklers. His potential is through the roof and because Georgia is so loaded he doesn’t have near the wear and tear of the other top TE’s in the class. He’s also the youngest of the top TE’s. He is so good already and has a lot of room to grow which is what I think makes for an excellent 1st round prospect.

Mayer is my TE 2 and someone I would be very happy with at 28.He is the definition of well rounded. Blocks well, catches well and doesn’t go down without a fight. Very productive at Notre Dame and just has a knack for making plays. Plus he’s a local guy. My only “concerns” are he lacks the ability to separate and I think he’s pretty much reached his ceiling. But he’s very good at making contested catches so the 1st might not be a big concern.

Kincaid is the last of my top 3 and my least preferred but depending on how the board falls I could see him in play. He is the best receiving TE in the class. Great catch radius, reliable hands, goes up and gets the ball and has good speed to separate. Hes always working to get open. He’s just such a liability in run blocking that I can’t rank him any higher.

Side Note - I don’t get the Musgrave love at all. Without knowing others rankings, I would say he’s a 3rd to 4th round prospect. Definitely do not see his value in the first 2 rounds.

Spot on with Washington and Mayer. Good post WhoDeyK.

I will say Kincaid is a great Receiver, but that isn't what we need unless we are trying to replace Boyd with him and even then, Boyd is a 
better blocker. Musgrave is a better blocker than Kincaid and has a ton of talent, just no production. My top 3 TE's in this Draft are DW, MM
and Sam LaPorta. The dude I have with the highest upside besides DW is Josh Whyle with his size, athleticism and he can block and catch.

I would like a TE1 in the first two rounds. I see Kraft as the bottom of that tier.

Also would like a late-round Wilcox replacement, though resigning Wilcox and drafting another position is fine with me as well. Davis Allen is the top of that tier. Will Mallory likely the bottom. Brayden Willis would be interesting as he would bring short yardage versatility as he could be an H-back as well. Whyle would be a sentimental, yet reasonable, pick there, too.

I have no problem with the Bengals drafting a TE but the only one I would consider at 28 would be Darnell Washington. If they were going to select Washington I would prefer to see them trade down and gain a bit more draft capital and select him at the end of the first round or the top of the second round. Nope, I would not take Mayer in the first. I may be wrong but I feel like what is seen with Mayer right now is his peak. He is an absolutely solid TE that is no doubt NFL ready, but I think he is at his ceiling and that is not necessarily a bad thing and he is a safe selection. I would like a bit more from my first round selection.

Here are my top choices in order:

1) Darnell Washington - I think his ceiling is very high and I believe his ability as a receiver is only just beginning to be seen. When you watch him you see a natural hand catcher and a player that is going to create some nightmare defensive matchups as he continues to grow in the position. What an absolute redzone threat and you can run a heavy set and never take him off the field which makes the defense account for him.

2) Tucker Kraft - He wants to be great and he puts in the work to be great. I see Kraft being a top tier TE talent in the NFL sooner than later and he is going to have a very strong all around game. He is exceptional after the catch and is a very good blocker. I think he will better than another S. Dakota St. Jackrabbit...Dallas Goedert.

3) Michael Mayer - I believe that right now he is as good or better than either Washington or Kraft but I feel he ceilings for both of those guys being higher than that of Mayer. I will take nothing away from him and he has earned his status in this draft. Where I think he falls short of these two guys is a couple of years from now. I believe he will still be a super solid TE with a complete all around game but I just think Washington and Kraft are a bit better athletes overall.

4) Luke Musgrave - He is a willing blocker but needs to get stronger and utilize better technique as an inline blocker. He is a really natural receiver and has good hips and feet and gets out of breaks really well.

5) Davis Allen -  I think he is really flying under the radar in this draft but I think he has the potential to be a very good NFL TE. Needs to get better as a blocker but the base is there and he is really good after the catch. A really good athlete

6) Luke Schoonmaker -  Needs to get stronger and impose his size on defenders when being utilized as a blocker. Not much for yards after catch but a decent receiver.

7) Cameron Latu - A relatively decent blocker and I believe could in time be a much better receiver. Is still sort of raw at the position as he came to the college ranks as a edge defender.

8) Payne Durham - Very solid blocker with good hands. Not overly athletic and is going to use his strength to make the contested catch but not much wiggle to elude the defense after the catch.

(04-06-2023, 05:03 PM)OSUfan Wrote: I have no problem with the Bengals drafting a TE but the only one I would consider at 28 would be Darnell Washington. If they were going to select Washington I would prefer to see them trade down and gain a bit more draft capital and select him at the end of the first round or the top of the second round. Nope, I would not take Mayer in the first. I may be wrong but I feel like what is seen with Mayer right now is his peak. He is an absolutely solid TE that is no doubt NFL ready, but I think he is at his ceiling and that is not necessarily a bad thing and he is a safe selection. I would like a bit more from my first round selection.

Here are my top choices in order:

1) Darnell Washington - I think his ceiling is very high and I believe his ability as a receiver is only just beginning to be seen. When you watch him you see a natural hand catcher and a player that is going to create some nightmare defensive matchups as he continues to grow in the position. What an absolute redzone threat and you can run a heavy set and never take him off the field which makes the defense account for him.

2) Tucker Kraft - He wants to be great and he puts in the work to be great. I see Kraft being a top tier TE talent in the NFL sooner than later and he is going to have a very strong all around game. He is exceptional after the catch and is a very good blocker. I think he will better than another S. Dakota St. Jackrabbit...Dallas Goedert.

3) Michael Mayer - I believe that right now he is as good or better than either Washington or Kraft but I feel he ceilings for both of those guys being higher than that of Mayer. I will take nothing away from him and he has earned his status in this draft. Where I think he falls short of these two guys is a couple of years from now. I believe he will still be a super solid TE with a complete all around game but I just think Washington and Kraft are a bit better athletes overall.

4) Luke Musgrave - He is a willing blocker but needs to get stronger and utilize better technique as an inline blocker. He is a really natural receiver and has good hips and feet and gets out of breaks really well.

5) Davis Allen -  I think he is really flying under the radar in this draft but I think he has the potential to be a very good NFL TE. Needs to get better as a blocker but the base is there and he is really good after the catch. A really good athlete

6) Luke Schoonmaker -  Needs to get stronger and impose his size on defenders when being utilized as a blocker. Not much for yards after catch but a decent receiver.

7) Cameron Latu - A relatively decent blocker and I believe could in time be a much better receiver. Is still sort of raw at the position as he came to the college ranks as a edge defender.

8) Payne Durham - Very solid blocker with good hands. Not overly athletic and is going to use his strength to make the contested catch but not much wiggle to elude the defense after the catch.

You have Allen and Latu over LaPorta?

(04-06-2023, 07:33 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: You have Allen and Latu over LaPorta?

Again, just my opinion but I am not a big Sam LaPorta fan. I don't care for his size at the position as he seems closer to fullback than TE. Here is my take on him:


* Not a big yards after contact threat.
* Not much elusiveness nor does he break a lot of tackles.
* TDs - virtually non existent. He has 5 total TDs in his 4 years at Iowa and 3 of those in one season.
* Redzone threat - the lack of TDs seems to answer this.
* Blocking - he really is not a good blocker and when he is singled up against an edge defender very often loses that matchup.


Again, this is just my take from what I have seen of him but I believe some of these deficiencies seem to be backed up by his stats. As an example Davis Allen has 12 TDs in his time at Clemson. Cameron Latu as well has 12 TDs but that was in only 2 seasons as a starter at Bama. I believe that Latu is only starting to scratch the surface of his abilities at the position. 


I could certainly be wrong.

(04-06-2023, 05:03 PM)OSUfan Wrote: I have no problem with the Bengals drafting a TE but the only one I would consider at 28 would be Darnell Washington. If they were going to select Washington I would prefer to see them trade down and gain a bit more draft capital and select him at the end of the first round or the top of the second round. Nope, I would not take Mayer in the first. I may be wrong but I feel like what is seen with Mayer right now is his peak. He is an absolutely solid TE that is no doubt NFL ready, but I think he is at his ceiling and that is not necessarily a bad thing and he is a safe selection. I would like a bit more from my first round selection.

Here are my top choices in order:

1) Darnell Washington - I think his ceiling is very high and I believe his ability as a receiver is only just beginning to be seen. When you watch him you see a natural hand catcher and a player that is going to create some nightmare defensive matchups as he continues to grow in the position. What an absolute redzone threat and you can run a heavy set and never take him off the field which makes the defense account for him.

2) Tucker Kraft - He wants to be great and he puts in the work to be great. I see Kraft being a top tier TE talent in the NFL sooner than later and he is going to have a very strong all around game. He is exceptional after the catch and is a very good blocker. I think he will better than another S. Dakota St. Jackrabbit...Dallas Goedert.

3) Michael Mayer - I believe that right now he is as good or better than either Washington or Kraft but I feel he ceilings for both of those guys being higher than that of Mayer. I will take nothing away from him and he has earned his status in this draft. Where I think he falls short of these two guys is a couple of years from now. I believe he will still be a super solid TE with a complete all around game but I just think Washington and Kraft are a bit better athletes overall.

4) Luke Musgrave - He is a willing blocker but needs to get stronger and utilize better technique as an inline blocker. He is a really natural receiver and has good hips and feet and gets out of breaks really well.

5) Davis Allen -  I think he is really flying under the radar in this draft but I think he has the potential to be a very good NFL TE. Needs to get better as a blocker but the base is there and he is really good after the catch. A really good athlete

6) Luke Schoonmaker -  Needs to get stronger and impose his size on defenders when being utilized as a blocker. Not much for yards after catch but a decent receiver.

7) Cameron Latu - A relatively decent blocker and I believe could in time be a much better receiver. Is still sort of raw at the position as he came to the college ranks as a edge defender.

8) Payne Durham - Very solid blocker with good hands. Not overly athletic and is going to use his strength to make the contested catch but not much wiggle to elude the defense after the catch.

Dalton Kincaid?

(04-07-2023, 10:53 AM)Bengalbug Wrote: Dalton Kincaid?

Yeah, what about him?

I'm hearing a lot of good things about Brenton Strange out of Penn State: Ross Tucker, Emory Hunt, Kiper and McShay and the guy from PFF that was interviewed on the Locked on Bengals Podcast. He doesn't have killer measurables, but they say he's got great hands, runs really good routes, has good acceleration and separation - and he's a vicious and effective blocker. I've heard him going anywhere from the 2nd (Todd McShay) to the 5th. No idea where he's going to end up - probably 3rd or 4th. But I like the idea of smart, violent football players.

(04-07-2023, 10:49 AM)OSUfan Wrote: Again, just my opinion but I am not a big Sam LaPorta fan. I don't care for his size at the position as he seems closer to fullback than TE. Here is my take on him:


* Not a big yards after contact threat.
* Not much elusiveness nor does he break a lot of tackles.
* TDs - virtually non existent. He has 5 total TDs in his 4 years at Iowa and 3 of those in one season.
* Redzone threat - the lack of TDs seems to answer this.
* Blocking - he really is not a good blocker and when he is singled up against an edge defender very often loses that matchup.


Again, this is just my take from what I have seen of him but I believe some of these deficiencies seem to be backed up by his stats. As an example Davis Allen has 12 TDs in his time at Clemson. Cameron Latu as well has 12 TDs but that was in only 2 seasons as a starter at Bama. I believe that Latu is only starting to scratch the surface of his abilities at the position. 


I could certainly be wrong.

I think LaPorta is a lot better than what he shown at Iowa with terrible QB play and think he is about the 2nd most solid TE to 
come out of this class behind Mayer. Darnell of course has the highest upside, but I think both Mayer and LaPorta will have long 
productive careers more than any of the other TE's in this class. I could be wrong as well, I just like LaPorta a lot out of TE U.

(03-23-2023, 09:41 AM)TecmoBengals Wrote: As of this post, the Bengals roster doesn't really have a TE1. Duke does have some options if he wants to draft one. Assuming we pick a TE, who do you want and what round are you targeting the player?

Possible TEs to draft:

1. Michael Mayer, Notre Dame
2. Dalton Kincaid, Utah
3. Darnell Washington, Georgia
4. Luke Musgrave, Oregon St.
5. Sam LaPorta, Iowa
6. Tucker Kraft, South Dakota St.
7. Luke Schoonmaker, Michigan
8. Josh Whyle, University of Cincinnati
9. Other options

I've seen mocks where we take Mayer or Washington at 28. This latest mock has us taking Kincaid at 28: https://www.pff.com/news/draft-three-round-2023-nfl-mock-draft-afc-north-browns-steelers-bengals-ravens.

Are you taking a TE, if yes, then when? Are you passing on using the draft for a TE?

My issue is i want to double dip at TE and i still want to even after signing Irv Smith. In my Madden franchise i actually triple dipped at TE and they all became good but that led me to another problem I’d having to pick which one i wanted to keep after the rookie deals were up. So if we do double dip we need to keep that in mind. Let’s say we get Mayer and Whyle. If they both end up good then that could be a hard decision down the road.




But honestly knowing we have Irv I’m fine with ANY TE listed here. If we trade back to get extra picks in the 2nd or 3rd fine. I would prefer the big dog Mayer but literally all the way down to Whyle I’d be happy.

I think this team may surprise us and draft RB and TE past round 3.

More and more mocks are predicting cornerback or defensive lineman which i would be fine with as long as it’s not some stupid ass reach and we don’t pick a guy slated to go in a later round



I don’t wanna shit on the team before they even deserve it, i just hope if Mayer is there we don’t overthink it.

(04-03-2023, 08:41 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I'd like Mayer but the thought of how explosive our offense would be with Washington does get me excited.

You can't cover him one-on-one but then you also can't leave Chase single-covered, and then who's left to cover Higgins and even Boyd?

If the team drafts Darnell Washington in the 1st, look for him to be the guy catching all of those contested catches on the sidelines.  The addition of Washington, provided he pans out, makes the team able to move Higgins and start over with a cheaper, newly drafted WR2.  

Sounds ugly at first, but then people wondered what the Bengals were going to do when AJ Green finally moved on, then Tee Higgins burst onto the scene.  WR is one position that the Bengals seem to be able to draft well at when they need one.

(04-07-2023, 06:45 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: If the team drafts Darnell Washington in the 1st, look for him to be the guy catching all of those contested catches on the sidelines.  The addition of Washington, provided he pans out, makes the team able to move Higgins and start over with a cheaper, newly drafted WR2.  

Sounds ugly at first, but then people wondered what the Bengals were going to do when AJ Green finally moved on, then Tee Higgins burst onto the scene.  WR is one position that the Bengals seem to be able to draft well at when they need one.

This!! And I haven't really saw much of them checking out to many of the high ranked WR's in this class.....granted this class is not great also.  But i wouldn't mind someone like Mims in the 3rd. He needs work on finding spots in zone coverage but he's a good playmaker.

I’m also on the Washington train and would love him at 28, the help on the line alone is a reason to consider him and his upside as a receiver is super intriguing. 16.8 ypc, the guy is a monster who’s super hard to bring him down with the ball in his hands. We use TE for a lot of check downs so his ability to easily get first downs is huge plus. I don’t love Mayer myself, he has great hands but he’s not overly fast, fluid or athletic on film. I actually really like Kincaid also, I see most don’t like him but he’s by far the best recieving TE in the draft and only started playing football in 2017. I think he had huge upside to become a 100 catch TE like Kelce(probably not on our team obviously) but would give us a lot of flexabilty with letting Boyd go and have Irwin or someone step up if he could become option #3. His knock is his blocking but with some NFL conditioning I’m sure he could get his weight up 10-15 pounds to get him to 255-260 and improve his blocking. He’s been playing football for 5 years, is super athletic(was a basketball player) and makes some unbelievable catches. Id be excited to see him in a bengals uniform but could see us go in another direction in the first round with IrV smith signed.

(04-07-2023, 06:45 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: If the team drafts Darnell Washington in the 1st, look for him to be the guy catching all of those contested catches on the sidelines.  The addition of Washington, provided he pans out, makes the team able to move Higgins and start over with a cheaper, newly drafted WR2.  

Sounds ugly at first, but then people wondered what the Bengals were going to do when AJ Green finally moved on, then Tee Higgins burst onto the scene.  WR is one position that the Bengals seem to be able to draft well at when they need one.

Cannot disagree Sunset. Probably is the right move to trade Tee, but from what Duke said it isn't happening, so I am just assuming
Tee stays with an extension and Boyd leaves next year. The addition of Darnell Washington would make it an easier transition in losing
Boyd. If we want to copy the Chiefs model, you just keep Chase and hope the TE you add is something like Kelce. The Chiefs get quite
a deal because of Kelce to keep the trenches stacked which is what winning teams do.

We will see how it goes. Sure sounds like we are going to extend both Burrow and Tee this Offseason.

(04-07-2023, 06:51 PM)pulses Wrote: This!! And I haven't really saw much of them checking out to many of the high ranked WR's in this class.....granted this class is not great also.  But i wouldn't mind someone like Mims in the 3rd. He needs work on finding spots in zone coverage but he's a good playmaker.

Good one on Mims, I also like him if we are moving on from both Tee and Boyd after this season while adding DW.

DW and Mims would make it a much easier transition, I just don't see us moving Tee, but Sunset is right, we actually draft WR's well...

Unlike OL. Need proven OL in FA.

(04-07-2023, 10:10 PM)Justin1462 Wrote: I’m also on the Washington train and would love him at 28, the help on the line alone is a reason to consider him and his upside as a receiver is super intriguing. 16.8 ypc, the guy is a monster who’s super hard to bring him down with the ball in his hands. We use TE for a lot of check downs so his ability to easily get first downs is huge plus. I don’t love Mayer myself, he has great hands but he’s not overly fast, fluid or athletic on film. I actually really like Kincaid also, I see most don’t like him but he’s by far the best recieving TE  in the draft and only started playing football in 2017. I think he had huge upside to become a 100 catch TE like Kelce(probably not on our team obviously) but would give us a lot of flexabilty with letting Boyd go and have Irwin or someone step up if he could become option #3. His knock is his blocking but with some NFL conditioning  I’m sure he could get his weight up 10-15 pounds to get him to 255-260 and improve his blocking. He’s been playing football for 5 years, is super athletic(was a basketball player)  and makes some unbelievable catches. Id be excited to see him in a bengals uniform but could see us go in another direction in the first round with IrV smith signed.

Been seeing us linked to Kincaid a lot lately and I probably have been the most adamant about not drafting him simply because of 
his poor blocking. But hey, if the coaches think they can coach up this part of Kincaid's game and we pick him I trust them. He is, like
you say, the best Receiving TE in this class. Sure would show a different approach than what we have been doing with TE's, where 
they HAVE to block well or nada.

The only TE I'd be happy with them taking in the first is Mayer. I'd much rather see them go DT/DE/CB/OT over any of the other TEs.

Kelce, Andres, Hockinson - the complete list of TEs who had more first downs than Tyler Boyd. IMO we do not need a great receiver, we need a guy who moves the chains. That is not necessarily a 1st round player.
Round 2: Mayer, Washington, LaPorta
Round 3: MusGrave, Kraft
Round 5: Kuntz