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2026 Fantasy Outlook

Mike Gesicki

TE · Bengals

Bengals

TE37 ADP

TE37

ADP (267 ovr)

83.9

Proj Half-PPR

42

Proj Rec

449

Proj Rec Yds

Gesicki is a 6-6, 245-pound receiver who happens to play tight end, and Cincinnati uses him that way. He lines up detached from the formation on more than 80% of his snaps and runs a route on 83% of the plays he is on the field for, the highest rate at the position. In 2024, with Joe Burrow healthy for all 17 games, that role turned into 65 catches for 665 yards and a seventh-place finish among tight ends in receiving EPA. Dan Pitcher's offense throws on two-thirds of its snaps and lives in the shotgun, which lets Gesicki win from the slot at intermediate depth without being asked to do much else.

Two things hold the outcome down. His run blocking has graded near the bottom of the position his whole career, which keeps his snap share around 40% and his target ceiling near 80 a year behind Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The production also rides on Burrow, who has missed 22 games over the past three seasons; with backups under center for most of 2025, Gesicki fell to 28 catches and 50th at the position. He turns 30 this year and is under contract through 2027 at $8.5 million a season.

QB Quality

Burrow is the switch. Healthy for all of 2024, he pushed Gesicki to seventh among tight ends in receiving EPA on 83 targets; gone for most of 2025, Gesicki dropped to 50th. Burrow's 68.5% career completion rate is the highest in league history, and his quick, accurate throwing over the middle is where Gesicki lives, on posts, hitches, and curls. Cincinnati runs almost none of its offense off play-action, so Gesicki's value does not lean on the parts of the passing game a backup tends to butcher. The risk is availability: Burrow has missed 22 games in three of his five seasons, and there is no floor behind him.

Playcall

Dan Pitcher calls the plays in his third year running the offense, promoted after developing Burrow as the quarterbacks coach. The system passes on two-thirds of its snaps, second in the league, and lines up in the shotgun 82% of the time. There is no play-action or in-line tight end design to speak of, so Gesicki plays as a detached slot and takes motion on about 40% of his targeted routes. That is what keeps him on the field without exposing his blocking. Chase and Higgins still eat about 64% of the targets ahead of him.

Competition

Erick All Jr.

Returns from his second career ACL after missing all of 2025.

TE2
Caught 20 of 22 targets as a rookie in 2024 before the knee. When healthy he is the better all-around blocker and the closest thing to receiving competition in the room, but he has not finished a full season in five years.

Drew Sample

The in-line blocker who takes the running-down snaps.

BLOCKER
Played 595 snaps in 2025 at a 50% snap rate, almost all of it as the attached Y. He absorbs the blocking work Gesicki does not, which is part of why Gesicki can stay a slot-only piece.

Jack Endries

Seventh-round rookie out of Texas in the 2026 draft.

ROOKIE
Scouted as a quarterback-friendly move tight end who could push for receiving snaps late in the year. Not a Week 1 factor.

Tanner Hudson

Veteran depth behind the top of the group.

DEPTH
Roster insurance who plays mainly when injuries hit the tight end room.

Scheme Fit

Detached-slot roleOnly NFL tight end aligning wide or in the slot on 80%+ of snaps in 2024; second among TEs in receiving yards from detached alignments (674).
83% route rateRuns a route on 83.4% of his on-field snaps in 2025, the highest rate of any tight end.
Cover 2 windows+0.254 EPA on 13 targets versus Cover 2 (65th pctile); his 6-6 frame wins over safeties in two-high zones.
Post-heavy treeTop route is the post at +1.497 EPA on 8 targets (86th pctile), fed by Burrow's intermediate accuracy.
40% snap shareCareer 50.9 PFF run-blocking grade caps snap share at 40-46%, holding target volume near 80 a season.
Cover 3 fade-0.882 EPA on 8 targets versus Cover 3 (1st pctile); flat defenders close his intermediate routes.

Key Variables

  • Does Burrow play 17? His receiving EPA was 7th at the position with Burrow in 2024 and 50th without him in 2025.
  • How much time does Higgins miss? He has sat 5+ games in three of the last four years, and each absence pushes Gesicki toward WR3-level target volume.
  • Can Pitcher lift the snap share from 40% to 50%? That is roughly 170 more snaps, worth 10 to 15 targets at his route rate.
  • Does the two-high safety trend send intermediate volume his way? The same coverage that cut Chase's deep catches from 19 to 3 could open the middle for a slot tight end.

Fantasy Range

Bull

TE8

Burrow plays 17 at his 2024 efficiency, Higgins misses four or five games, and the snap share climbs to 50%; near 90 targets and a top-10 finish.

Base

TE20

Burrow mostly healthy with Chase and Higgins both playing; around 80 targets, 45 to 50 catches, a streamer with matchup weeks.

Bear

TE30

Burrow misses six-plus games again and the snap share stays at 40%; near-replacement production, about 35 catches.

Health

Gesicki tore his left pectoral in Week 6 of 2025 trying to block on a run play, landed on injured reserve, and came back in Week 12. He played well after the return, adding 20 catches for 246 yards over seven games. Before that he had missed one game total from 2018 through 2024. Tearing a pec on a blocking rep is worth flagging for a player whose blocking is already what limits his snaps. He is 30 this season.

Draft him after pick 250 as a bench streamer and start him the weeks Burrow is healthy and Higgins is out; leave him on the bench any week a backup is under center.

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