For the third straight year, the Cincinnati Bengals will open the season with a new starting tight end. This year, Irv Smith Jr. gets the call after three unspectacular seasons with the Vikings. Here’s a look at how he could do this season, and how the team stacks up behind him.
Bengals starting tight end: Irv Smith Jr.
Smith was an absolute beast in college at Alabama, so much so that the Vikings selected him in the second round of the 2019 draft in the hopes that he’d be the heir apparent to Kyle Rudolph. That never happened, as Smith missed 26 games over his last two seasons in Minnesota, and never seemed to mesh with Kirk Cousins when he was on the field. That said, he’s only 24 and tallied 710 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in his senior season at Alabama. Smith is much more talented than Hayden Hurst (who had 414 yards as the Bengals’ tight end last season), so, he’s primed for a big year, so long as he can stay on the field.
Who is Irv Smith Jr.’s backup on the Bengals TE depth chart?
Drew Sample is Smith’s backup, and it’s worth keeping an eye on him just because of Smith’s injury history. Sample had a breakout season in 2020 (349 yards and a touchdown), but has only tallied 79 yards in the two years since. He’s more of a blocking tight end, but could end up getting thrust into a starting spot if Smith struggles to stay on the field.
After Sample, the Bengals’ backups consist of Tanner Hudson and Devin Asiasi. Asiasi spent last season with the Bengals (he had five yards on two receptions), while Hudson spent last season with the Giants, where he had 132 yards on 10 receptions. Hudson has averaged 13.3 yards on his 15 career receptions, so it’s not farfetched to think he’d also receive some run if Smith went down.