As it stands, Tyler Eifert is a great playmaker when healthy. The issue has been him staying healthy. It's not good when you're being referred to as Mr. Glass by the fan base. He's now in his latest health episode where there's worry he'll be ready for the upcoming training camp after yet another surgery. As things like this continue to happen, more and more of the fan base are starting to mock a TE even as early as #9 (OJ Howard).

So the question is if Eifert is to be in the Bengals' long-term plans, how can he be better utilized to provide good production and stay healthy?

I'd like to make the case of Tyler Eifert going back to being the second TE on the depth chart.

Eifert's healthiest season was his rookie season (15 games), in which he was TE2 behind Jermaine Gresham. Gresham was used mainly as the inline and blocking TE and Eifert was used more often as a receiving TE that could move around. As a rookie, Eifert has his second-highest receptions and yards of his career. That year, Eifert + Gresham posted 85 receptions for 903 yards and 6 TDs. It should also be noted that Eifert also posted his second-highest number of offensive snaps - 673.
Also, while a good blocker, Eifert is not elite in this department. He is much better to the team as a receiver than a blocker.
In order to remain an impact player, he must stay healthy. If Eifert plays fewer snaps and is asked to block less, he should have a higher chance to play through an entire season.

If Eifert would be moved back to his role from his rookie year, this could be the perfect opportunity to draft OJ Howard, who many consider the best all-around TE in arguably the best TE class in at least a decade (possibly ever). OJ Howard would come in and be used much in the same way Gresham was in 2014. Howard could handle the blocking assignments and still get plenty of looks as a receiver while Eifert is used primarily as a move TE that would block occasionally.

The hope would be that while Eifert wouldn't be the sole TE on the field and likely break 1000 yards, he'd remain healthy to have a higher number of snaps than if he was the sole TE and our TEs combined would be able to post over 1000 yards. I would consider Eifert + Howard to be (much) better in terms of production compared to 2013 Eifert + Gresham, so even reaching 1200 yards shouldn't be out of the question.

I wouldn't Draft OJ Howard to pair with Eifert but instead to Replace Eifert long term.
Maybe they are a Pair for 1 year then let Eifert walk for the Comp pick.
Could also Trade Eifert to an NFC team and never Pair them together.

Eifert will be 27 years old in September and in his 4 years here his Career stats are 123 catches for 1,491 yards and
20 TDs. The TDs stand out but injury during his Youth years are a big concern. Not a lot of yards after 4 years due to injury.

Hard to Plan around injury prone players and AJ Green tends to get injured often too which kills the Offense.
Our 2 best weapons can be watching from the sidelines at any moment due to injury.
I would consider replacing one of our injury prone players (Eifert) with OJ Howard and hope AJ Green can stay healthy for a Playoff run.

Suddenly Foster does not look like there sure pick at number 9 in the draft. If it came down to Howard or Allen at number nine that would be a tough choice. Butt in round 3 would work. I'm not sure Howard is going to be there at number nine however.

(04-18-2017, 02:30 PM)psychdoctor Wrote: Suddenly Foster does not look like there sure pick at number 9 in the draft.  If it came down to Howard or Allen at number nine that would be a tough choice.  Butt in round 3 would work.  I'm not sure Howard is going to be there at number nine however.

not really.  Allen doesn't fit our scheme or need.

(04-18-2017, 02:24 PM)depthchart Wrote: I wouldn't Draft OJ Howard to pair with Eifert but instead to Replace Eifert long term.
Maybe they are a Pair for 1 year then let Eifert walk for the Comp pick.
Could also Trade Eifert to an NFC team and never Pair them together.

Eifert will be 27 years old in September and in his 4 years here his Career stats are 123 catches for 1,491 yards and
20 TDs. The TDs stand out but injury during his Youth years are a big concern. Not a lot of yards after 4 years due to injury.

Hard to Plan around injury prone players and AJ Green tends to get injured often too which kills the Offense.
Our 2 best weapons can be watching from the sidelines at any moment due to injury.
I would consider replacing one of our injury prone players (Eifert) with OJ Howard and hope AJ Green can stay healthy for a Playoff run.

I think we can get Eifert back on a performance/healthy contract.  OJ Howard is the most solid pick we can make at 9 because it helps our offensive line and receivers.  Black Gronk ftw

I am definately for Howard and it will be telling if we do draft him in that Zampese will HAVE to run more TE
sets and will have to restructure the Offense a bit. The thing is if Eifert does stay healthy he is probably the
best Redzone threat in the league, just as good as Gronk in this role and with his route running.

Doubt we would be able to afford him if he stays healthy.

Howard as another poster said would be more of his replacement.

Might be better for us for Eifert to be hurt again so we could afford this 2 TE set lol

I guess I just don't see the need for another TE.  Especially, a first round TE.  I know I know, draft for the future.  But this team has GLARING holes at other positions.  Lets use our top ten pick to shore up one of those holes before we add a 2nd TE.  Drafting Howard would be nice, I'm not saying that, I'm just saying he's a luxury that I don't think we can afford at this moment.

(04-18-2017, 02:37 PM)Okeana Wrote: not really.  Allen doesn't fit our scheme or need.

Well if he slips to 9 somebody would want to jump up and get him


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(04-18-2017, 03:01 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: I guess I just don't see the need for another TE.  Especially, a first round TE.  I know I know, draft for the future.  But this team has GLARING holes at other positions.  Lets use our top ten pick to shore up one of those holes before we add a 2nd TE.  Drafting Howard would be nice, I'm not saying that, I'm just saying he's a luxury that I don't think we can afford at this moment.

What other hole(s) do you see, especially if Eifert misses multiple games this year?
MJ will be the starter opposite Dunlap.
Billings will be the starter next to Atkins.
Hill (or Bernard if ready by Week 1) will be the starter at RB.
LaFell is the starter opposite of AJ Green.
Jones, Kirkpatrick, Iloka, and Williams are the starting DBs.
Burfict, Minter, and Vigil/VRey will be the starters at LB.
Ogbuehi, Boling, Bodine, Smith, and Fisher are the starters for OL.

(04-18-2017, 03:16 PM)ochocincos Wrote: What other hole(s) do you see, especially if Eifert misses multiple games this year?
MJ will be the starter opposite Dunlap.
Billings will be the starter next to Atkins.
Hill (or Bernard if ready by Week 1) will be the starter at RB.
LaFell is the starter opposite of AJ Green.
Jones, Kirkpatrick, Iloka, and Williams are the starting DBs.
Burfict, Minter, and Vigil/VRey will be the starters at LB.
Ogbuehi, Boling, Bodine, Smith, and Fisher are the starters for OL.

right TE would help Fisher or OgB  as well...  And with no OL player worthy of a top 9 spot we will grab those a little latter.

If there are players that I personally want not there, I would be fine with Howard to replace Eifert. Straight up Eifert cannot provide us with value due to his injuries. Most injuries are based on luck but back injuries are serious business and are hard to keep up on. Use the financial resources elsewhere.

Howard has enough value as an overall player to be worth the pick. He's probably the best all around TE to come out since Gronk. His ability to block and beast in receiving is great. He has all pro value as a pick so positional value is kind of thrown out the door there

(04-18-2017, 03:16 PM)ochocincos Wrote: What other hole(s) do you see, especially if Eifert misses multiple games this year?
MJ will be the starter opposite Dunlap.
Billings will be the starter next to Atkins.
Hill (or Bernard if ready by Week 1) will be the starter at RB.
LaFell is the starter opposite of AJ Green.
Jones, Kirkpatrick, Iloka, and Williams are the starting DBs.
Burfict, Minter, and Vigil/VRey will be the starters at LB.
Ogbuehi, Boling, Bodine, Smith, and Fisher are the starters for OL.

You don't think MJ could be upgraded? Lafell? Bodine? Williams?Vigil? VRey?

You think Howard is going to jump Eifert as a starter this year?

Whenever I hear Howard's name come up I also think of his scouting reports, saying things like:

WEAKNESSES Will need more muscle and mass to be an in-line blocker as a pro. Appears passive. Doesn't have the field demeanor of most Alabama players. Needs better hand strength to sustain his blocks. Can do better job of working feet into position after contact. Needs urgency in his routes to tilt defenders and get them guessing. Needs to show more elusiveness after the catch. Saw playing time diminish from junior to senior season. Explosive talent who doesn't make enough explosive plays. Scheme creates some wide-open deep-ball catches at time. Scouts question his competitive nature.

SOURCES TELL US "Alabama recruited a shiny toy but (Lane) Kiffin never really knew what to do with it. I don't worry about the talent at all. He could be an all-pro. I just need to know if he loves football." -- NFC general manager

When I see a player's desire and competitive nature questioned like this my red flag goes up.

(04-18-2017, 03:44 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: You don't think MJ could be upgraded?  Lafell? Bodine? Williams?Vigil? VRey?

You think Howard is going to jump Eifert as a starter this year?

I didn't say I think those players couldn't be upgraded. But just because there's room for upgrade doesn't make it a "hole".

What I'm saying is none of those players will have less snaps than a rookie counterpart unless an injury happens.
Out of all of the starters on the team, Eifert has the most issue staying healthy, and the depth behind him drops off a good amount.

So the question really needs to become which player will get the most snaps in their first 1-2 years? I think there's good opportunity for TE, as a two-TE set could be used (more) to increase snaps for a rookie plus Eifert is the leading candidate to miss time due to injury. After this year, Eifert could be gone to FA so there would be a clear hole anyway.

Does anyone have faith that the Bengals could develop a mid-late round TE to become as good or better than Eifert if he were to leave in FA? I don't since the Bengals have only had good production with a TE in the Marvin Lewis Era when they were drafted in the first round.

And the point of this thread is to actually force a rookie TE to get more snaps and also try to increase Eifert's chances of being healthy by changing Eifert's role. By making this move, it should essentially give OJ Howard the best chance to see more snaps over any other rookie projected around that spot without greatly diminishing Eifert's ability to contribute as a receiver.

(04-18-2017, 03:45 PM)Joelist Wrote: Whenever I hear Howard's name come up I also think of his scouting reports, saying things like:

WEAKNESSES Will need more muscle and mass to be an in-line blocker as a pro. Appears passive. Doesn't have the field demeanor of most Alabama players. Needs better hand strength to sustain his blocks. Can do better job of working feet into position after contact. Needs urgency in his routes to tilt defenders and get them guessing. Needs to show more elusiveness after the catch. Saw playing time diminish from junior to senior season. Explosive talent who doesn't make enough explosive plays. Scheme creates some wide-open deep-ball catches at time. Scouts question his competitive nature.

SOURCES TELL US "Alabama recruited a shiny toy but (Lane) Kiffin never really knew what to do with it. I don't worry about the talent at all. He could be an all-pro. I just need to know if he loves football." -- NFC general manager

When I see a player's desire and competitive nature questioned like this my red flag goes up.

Need to list his positives to be unbiased here. There are negatives with every player, even the first one taken.

(04-18-2017, 03:59 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Need to list his positives to be unbiased here. There are negatives with every player, even the first one taken.

To add to that, I can't imagine anyone questioning his desire has ever seen Howard blocking guys 10 yards away from the play

(04-18-2017, 03:59 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Need to list his positives to be unbiased here. There are negatives with every player, even the first one taken.

Here's a negative for Myles Garrett - Have you seen his running style? It's about as bad as when Phoebe from Friends goes running!

(04-18-2017, 03:54 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I didn't say I think those players couldn't be upgraded. But just because there's room for upgrade doesn't make it a "hole".

What I'm saying is none of those players will have less snaps than a rookie counterpart unless an injury happens.
Out of all of the starters on the team, Eifert has the most issue staying healthy, and the depth behind him drops off a good amount.

So the question really needs to become which player will get the most snaps in their first 1-2 years? I think there's good opportunity for TE, as a two-TE set could be used (more) to increase snaps for a rookie plus Eifert is the leading candidate to miss time due to injury. After this year, Eifert could be gone to FA so there would be a clear hole anyway.

Does anyone have faith that the Bengals could develop a mid-late round TE to become as good or better than Eifert if he were to leave in FA? I don't since the Bengals have only had good production with a TE in the Marvin Lewis Era when they were drafted in the first round.

And the point of this thread is to actually force a rookie TE to get more snaps and also try to increase Eifert's chances of being healthy by changing Eifert's role. By making this move, it should essentially give OJ Howard the best chance to see more snaps over any other rookie projected around that spot without greatly diminishing Eifert's ability to contribute as a receiver.

To provide more clarification on this, Eifert would actually be the luxury, not the Howard selection. Since Eifert has missed so much time, he's essentially a luxury to have anyway. You don't count on him being available anymore. So I like to think of this offense without Eifert and then identify the gaps. TE is a pretty clear gap when Eifert isn't there.

Unless Allen or FOurnette is there I'm content with Howard.

(04-18-2017, 04:52 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Here's a negative for Myles Garrett - Have you seen his running style? It's about as bad as when Phoebe from Friends goes running!

Didn't watch him at the combine, sounds like a Stain lol