(Frank Victores/USA Today Sports)
One of the biggest surprises from the 2013 NFL Draft involved the Cincinnati Bengals taking former Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert in the first round–especially since they took Jermaine Gresham in the first round a couple of years ago. There’s no question the potential is there for Eifert as he was arguably the best pass-catching tight end from this year’s class, but was he worth the first-round pick for the Bengals?
It appears Cincinnati is hoping to develop an effective two tight end system similar to the New England Patriots with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez–which could work wonders during the 2013 season. With the addition of Eifert, the Bengals have another weapon in the passing game for Andy Dalton that could take away some of the attention surrounding A.J. Green–which could take the offense to a whole new level next season.
The Bengals have been one of the biggest surprises over the last two seasons as they’ve earned back-to-back playoff appearances and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to do so once again next year. The potential is certainly there for Eifert to make an impact as a rookie in 2013, but that doesn’t mean the transition will be easy for the former Notre Dame star.
Either way, it will be interesting to see if this early pick of Eifert pays off for the Bengals considering how many different areas they could have focused on in the first round.
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