Tanner Hudson continues to impress when given opportunities.
Burrow is looking for him, and he's making receptions.
Hudson is leading the TEs in yardage, YPR, and catch % and he's only been active for 4 games:
Hudson - 126 yards, 9.0 YPR, 77.8% catch
Smith - 89 yards, 6.4 YPR, 70.0% catch
Sample - 52 yards, 6.5 YPR, 72.7% catch
Wilcox - 17 yards, 5.7 YPR, 60.0% catch

Not to get too far ahead, but Hudson could potentially be around a 400-500 yard TE if he got enough opportunities for an entire season, as he's on pace for 31.5 yards per game.

On top of the stats, Hudson also just looks the best as a receiver among the TEs. He doesn't look clunky like most TEs do.

I like him. And Drew Sample should definitely not have any targets 10+ yards downfield with Hudson in the lineup.

(11-13-2023, 03:39 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: I like him. And Drew Sample should definitely not have any targets 10+ yards downfield with Hudson in the lineup.

Hudson catches or at least gets his hands on the Sample INT. Burrow never should have put it that high but someone like Sample does no favors to get to a ball that's not perfectly in place. 

Hey, after the Bills game, I was already ready to crown him the starting TE and that hasn't changed.

(11-13-2023, 03:37 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Tanner Hudson continues to impress when given opportunities.
Burrow is looking for him, and he's making receptions.
Hudson is leading the TEs in yardage, YPR, and catch % and he's only been active for 4 games:
Hudson - 126 yards, 9.0 YPR, 77.8% catch
Smith - 89 yards, 6.4 YPR, 70.0% catch
Sample - 52 yards, 6.5 YPR, 72.7% catch
Wilcox - 17 yards, 5.7 YPR, 60.0% catch

Not to get too far ahead, but Hudson could potentially be around a 400-500 yard TE if he got enough opportunities for an entire season, as he's on pace for 31.5 yards per game.

On top of the stats, Hudson also just looks the best as a receiver among the TEs. He doesn't look clunky like most TEs do.

He wasn't bad, but wasn't overly impressive in this one.  Yes, he had 6 catches, but 33 yards on 7 targets is not good at all.

He needs to be used as a complementary piece to catch the D off guard.  There's no reason Hudson should be getting more targets than Chase in a game where we were tied or behind the vast majority of the time.

He's definitely taking advantage of his opportunity so far. I'm most surprised by just how quickly Burrow has trusted him thus far, but after seeing how reliable he has been (albeit small sample size) I can see why.

(11-13-2023, 04:00 PM)TheFan Wrote: Hudson catches or at least gets his hands on the Sample INT. Burrow never should have put it that high but someone like Sample does no favors to get to a ball that's not perfectly in place. 

Sample got his hands on it, that's not fair to him.

It was a bad throw, period, two bad INTs by Joe, plays that he literally NEVER does.

(11-13-2023, 04:45 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: Sample got his hands on it, that's not fair to him.

It was a bad throw, period, two bad INTs by Joe, plays that he literally NEVER does.

Eh, the one to Sample was just a tad high. It happens. Even the most accurate QB’s just flat out miss every once in a while. The ball he forced into triple coverage to Boyd was the one that was super unlike him.

(11-13-2023, 04:00 PM)TheFan Wrote: Hudson catches or at least gets his hands on the Sample INT. Burrow never should have put it that high but someone like Sample does no favors to get to a ball that's not perfectly in place. 

That was a terrible throw. 

Not saying the throw wasn’t a little high, but I agree with sans (and The Fan) here. Shouldn’t even have been Sample targeted on that play.

Also burrow challenged the quarters safety to make a play on the deep ball a couple times which I enjoyed. Even think the pick on the sample seam was good on paper just not the right personnel. Have thought they have needed to challenge teams selling out to stop the deep ball.

— mike (@bengals_sans) November 13, 2023

(11-13-2023, 04:54 PM)125250 Wrote: That was a terrible throw. 

I never said it wasn't. I still think it's probably not an INT if it's Hudson instead of Sample. That doesn't change that regardless it was a terrible throw. 

(11-13-2023, 04:45 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: Sample got his hands on it, that's not fair to him.

It was a bad throw, period, two bad INTs by Joe, plays that he literally NEVER does.

He does though, he's had a couple this year alone where he's completed looked through the defender or got locked on who he wanted to throw it to presnap. Not a lot and not all have been INTs but he has definitely made those poor decisions/throws before this game. 

I don't think Sample got his hands on it, at least not that I can see from the replays I've watched. Haven't seen one directly on though 

(11-13-2023, 05:21 PM)TheFan Wrote: He does though, he's had a couple this year alone where he's completed looked through the defender or got locked on who he wanted to throw it to presnap. Not a lot and not all have been INTs but he has definitely made those poor decisions/throws before this game. 

I don't think Sample got his hands on it, at least not that I can see from the replays I've watched. Haven't seen one directly on though 

I remember him getting a finger or two...

(11-13-2023, 04:36 PM)Whatever Wrote: He wasn't bad, but wasn't overly impressive in this one.  Yes, he had 6 catches, but 33 yards on 7 targets is not good at all.

He needs to be used as a complementary piece to catch the D off guard.  There's no reason Hudson should be getting more targets than Chase in a game where we were tied or behind the vast majority of the time.

To be fair, Hudson's targets pretty much all came on that first scoring drive when it was 0-0, so he wasn't targeted over Chase once the Bengals got in a hole.
Hudson was a huge reason the Bengals were able to score on that first drive though.
Honestly, Hudson should have been used more in the passing game after the first drive.

(11-13-2023, 05:19 PM)TheFan Wrote: I never said it wasn't. I still think it's probably not an INT if it's Hudson instead of Sample. That doesn't change that regardless it was a terrible throw. 

I think it was terrible enough that no one would have.

(11-13-2023, 11:57 PM)125250 Wrote: I think it was terrible enough that no one would have.

Okay, and I disagree. If Sample got his finger tips on it or almost did then I think Hudson would have got more. 

(11-13-2023, 03:39 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: I like him. And Drew Sample should definitely not have any targets 10+ yards downfield with Hudson in the lineup.

I agree.Another boneheaded decision.The playcall was OK,but it should have been Hudson,not Sample.Sample should never get any targets.Just have him blocking.He is good at that.

As a matter of fact,he currently leads the league as the best blocking TE.

(11-14-2023, 12:11 AM)TheFan Wrote: Okay, and I disagree. If Sample got his finger tips on it or almost did then I think Hudson would have got more. 

They are the same height and Sample was fully extended.

He can find the open pockets, but he’s not much of a yac guy.

(11-13-2023, 06:24 PM)ochocincos Wrote: To be fair, Hudson's targets pretty much all came on that first scoring drive when it was 0-0, so he wasn't targeted over Chase once the Bengals got in a hole.
Hudson was a huge reason the Bengals were able to score on that first drive though.
Honestly, Hudson should have been used more in the passing game after the first drive.

The opening drive was really not that great.  We had to convert a 4th down in a sequence where we targeted Hudson 3 out of 4 downs and we're backed up to 3rd and 7 when Joe dropped a dime to a well covered Irwin for a 32 yard TD.  

Hudson is the best receiving TE we have, but he offers little as a YAC threat and is a liability as a blocker, which makes it tough to play him more in a game where you're struggling in pass pro.  He's a guy that should get 3-4 targets a game to keep the D honest and pick up a cheap 1st down or two while they focus on other guys.  He isn't a guy who should be getting 7+ targets a game.