Case for Eifert to be TE2 + draft OJ Howard

[*ochocincos*]

(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.