Bengals TE Tyler Eifert: On par with Rob Gronkowski?

Heading into Thursday night football, Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert was one of the clear up-and-coming stars in the NFL today. After the game, it’s pretty clear that he’s arrived as one of the best tight ends around.

Eifert was absolutely dominant against the Cleveland Browns in prime time, catching all three of Andy Dalton’s touchdown passes on the night and doing so with only 53 total receiving yards. In his five catches, he showed the full gamut of his skill set as a receiver, playing both an in-line physical role as well as lining up out wide and making a cornerback look absolutely stupid.

Here’s his first touchdown of the night, where he goes straight up the middle of the field and uses his size to shield the safety and makes a nice grab…

Here’s his second touchdown of the night, in a lot of traffic in the back of the end zone…

Here’s his third touchdown of the night where he is just — at this point — making a mockery of the Cleveland secondary…

In my mind, Eifert has a long way to go before he reaches the status of Rob Gronkowski, and I know that makes the headline a bit misleading here, but such is life.

My main goal was that you would get to see how dominant Eifert truly was on this night, and if we’re being honest, he IS on par with Gronkowski this year in terms of fantasy prowess. He leads the league with nine touchdown grabs, averaging at least one touchdown per game with three multi-touchdown gams this year.

The productivity of the Bengals’ offense has seen a major increase with his presence in the lineup, there’s no question about it. Losing Eifert at this point would have a humongous impact on the ability of Andy Dalton to be as efficient as he has been this season. Having a big time tight end that is 6-6, 250 pounds is a luxury not many teams can afford, at least in terms of having a guy who has the athleticism of a top level wide receiver.

The Bengals have it. The Patriots have it.

Oh, and they’re a combined 15-0 this season.

I’m not saying, I’m just saying…