The Bengals’ tight end room looked crowded the moment Cincinnati set its initial 53-man roster, and the first move answered part of the mystery: Tanner Hudson was released today. But the bigger question still hangs over Zac Taylor’s offense - what does it look like when the Bengals lean into all those tight ends?
The answer may be less about a simple personnel label and more about how Cincinnati can keep defenses guessing. The Bengals have already experimented with more 12 and 13 personnel as they search for ways to make Joe Burrow’s offense less predictable. And when Mike Gesicki is part of the equation, those groupings stop being as straightforward as they seem.
By the book, the numbers are simple. Personnel groupings are built around running backs and tight ends: the first number is the backs, the second is the tight ends.
So 12 personnel means one running back and two tight ends, with two wide receivers on the field. 13 personnel means one running back and three tight ends, leaving room for just one traditional wideout. Usually, that signals something heavier - more mass near the line, more help in the run game, and a defense forced to respond with bigger bodies of its own.
That’s where the Bengals can make things messy.
Gesicki is listed as a tight end, and from a roster standpoint, that’s exactly what he is. But his role last season looked much closer to a receiver’s.
He lined up in the slot on 233 of his 320 offensive snaps, or 72.8% of the time, and he ran a route on roughly 83% of Cincinnati’s passing plays when he was on the field. Drew Sample, by comparison, ran a route on only about 35% of his passing-play opportunities.
That gap tells the story. Gesicki may be a tight end on paper, but the Bengals often use him like a big slot target.
That matters a lot if Cincinnati really starts deploying more 13 personnel. Picture the Bengals breaking the huddle with Gesicki, Sample and Erick All Jr. on the field with Chase Brown and Ja’Marr Chase.
That is 13 personnel - one back, three tight ends and one receiver. But if Gesicki then walks into the slot, the look changes fast.
The formation is still technically heavy, but it no longer feels that way. Sample and All are still available near the line, Chase is outside, and Gesicki is occupying the same area a slot receiver would.
The defense has to decide what it thinks it’s seeing.
If it answers with base personnel because it expects a heavier set, Cincinnati can spread the formation and put a linebacker or safety in a tough spot with Gesicki in space. That’s a matchup Burrow will happily test before the snap. If the defense instead prepares for Cincinnati to spread things out and counters with extra defensive backs, Taylor can tighten the formation back up, keep the same group on the field and let Chase Brown attack a lighter box.
The key is that Cincinnati doesn’t have to substitute to do any of it. That means the defense can’t freely answer with its own substitutions, either. If the Bengals keep the same five skill players on the field, they can move from heavy to spread without giving the defense time to reset.
That flexibility also helps explain why carrying five tight ends isn’t necessarily overkill. Sample gives Cincinnati a more traditional blocking option.
All has the potential to help as both a blocker and receiver. Rookie Jack Endries showed enough during the preseason to suggest he may offer more versatility than expected.
And Gesicki is the player who turns the whole thing into a chess match.
His 2025 production showed he can do real damage in that role. Gesicki finished with 28 catches for 307 yards and two touchdowns despite playing only 13 games.
After returning from a pectoral injury in Week 12, he caught 20 of 26 targets for 246 yards and two touchdowns over the rest of the season. His PFF grade in that stretch climbed to 78.8, sixth among tight ends.
So this isn’t just a matter of Cincinnati lining him up in the slot for appearance’s sake. He can actually produce there.
In the end, the value of 13 personnel for the Bengals may not be about simply putting three tight ends on the field. It’s about forcing the defense to reveal how it wants to play them before the ball is snapped.
If it goes bigger, Cincinnati can spread it out. If it stays smaller, the Bengals can compress the formation and go after the run game.
And because Gesicki spent nearly three-quarters of his snaps last season aligned in the slot, defenses already know Cincinnati is comfortable making a tight end look an awful lot like a receiver.
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