The Cincinnati Bengals offense experienced a lot of change this offseason. While one of the most high-profile potential changes did not come to pass as Tee Higgins signed his franchise tag and will remain with the team in 2024, the Bengals did part ways with longtime running back Joe Mixon, replaced departed offensive coordinator Brian Callahan -- now the head coach of the Tennessee Titans -- with quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher, allowed slot receiver Tyler Boyd to leave in free agency, signed tackle Trent Brown, running back Zack Moss, and tight end Mike Gesicki, and drafted Amarius Mims, Jermaine Burton, and Erick All.
That's a pretty significant shift in personnel for one offseason, and it's left both Pitcher and quarterback Joe Burrow excited about the possibility of doing things a little bit differently this season than they have in the past.
"With the personnel we have this year, we'll be able to do a lot more with personnel groupings," Burrow said, via the team's official website. "Putting different people in different spots . . . And doing a lot of different things as far as eye candy and making teams adjust their personnel based on ours."
Through Burrow's first four NFL seasons, the Bengals have utilized 11 personnel -- 1 running back and 1 tight end -- more than almost any other team. They have been in 11 on at least 72% of their offensive snaps in each of those seasons. They have almost never been in two-back sets (21 or 22 personnel), maxing out at 2.2% of their snaps in those alignments. And they've used multiple tight ends on, at most, 15.5% of their snaps, according to Tru Media.
| Season | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4.3% | 75.3% | 14.4% | 1.1% | 0.6% | 0.8% |
| 2021 | 1.1% | 76.7% | 11.8% | 2.1% | 0.0% | 0.7% |
| 2022 | 1.1% | 82.4% | 6.4% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 2.2% |
| 2023 | 1.7% | 72.2% | 12.0% | 0.9% | 0.5% | 1.3% |
Now, though, with things having been shuffled a bit, they are apparently gearing up to make some changes, particularly in their usage of the tight ends.
"Our tight-end room is a room that I'm very excited about," Pitcher said. "And I think they had an excellent spring. Tanner (Hudson), Mike (Gesicki), and Drew (Sample) obviously are the three experienced guys in the room. All of whom feel very comfortable in their own skin, know who they are, know how to play the game. They wouldn't stick around in the league for six, seven years a piece if that wasn't the case."
Pitcher also noted that both Gesicki and Hudson can play out of the slot, which is where Boyd did most of his work over the years. That's certainly the case for Gesicki. Since he arrived in the NFL in 2018, he's lined up in the slot on 53.1% of his snaps -- the highest rate among all tight ends with 250 or more routes run during that time, via Tru Media. (Hudson has been there on nearly 29.7% of his snaps.) The Bengals haven't used tight ends in the slot all that often since Tyler Eifert left the team, so it'll be a bit or a new look for them if one of those guys flexes out.
Given that Burton is a rookie who was explosive but not necessarily high usage during his time at Georgia and Alabama, it's not necessarily surprising that they might bring him along slowly as he gets ready to get the No. 3 receiver this year and potentially take over as the No. 2 if and when Higgins moves on, and that venturing into different personnel groupings would be part of that plan.