“Mike’s more explosive, but both could go up and make the contested catch,” Casey says.
Casey is in the process of finishing up his draft reports this week and now’s a good time to recall that Gesicki went in the second round in 2018, the second tight end taken after Hurst. At the NFL scouting combine that year, Gesicki spiced his out of-this-world vertical with a brisk 4.55-second 40-yard dash.
“I don’t know what it is now,” Casey says. “But on tape he can still run.”
Gesicki’s travails since that 73-catch season in Miami during 2021 are well known. The Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel the next season and Gesicki had 70 fewer targets in the new system that didn’t exactly suit pass-catching tight ends. Then last season he went to New England, where the offense didn’t suit any pass catchers, and had seven fewer targets than he got under McDaniel.
But even though the Bengals are built on throwing to wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, it sounds like Gesicki is going to have plenty more targets than his combined 97 of the past two seasons.
In his two healthy seasons, Burrow averaged 65 targets to his No. 1 tight ends. And that with slot receiver Tyler Boyd, now a free agent.
“It gives you flexibility when you feel Iike you have an above-average pass catcher at tight end,” Casey says. “You can put him in some receiving roles, too. You know Mike can do some of that stuff.
“Over the last five years I’ve seen him run across the field and make explosive plays. Go across the field, like on a crossing route, and he’s got enough speed and size to be able to separate and make those catches. Obviously, he can also go down the seam and his red-zone stuff is impressive.”
Also impressive is how Gesicki figures to mix in the locker room. He has entrée through one of his close friends with the Dolphins within Bengals center Ted Karras. And it already sounds like he’s got…
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