The Bengals’ Week 5 picture got a lot clearer once Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins moved past the injury concerns and were set to play against Miami. That leaves a familiar fantasy decision in their wake: Mike Gesicki is the safer bet, while Dohnte Meyers goes back to the background as the No. 3 receiver.
Gesicki has already flashed the kind of scoring pop that matters most in fantasy. He has found the end zone three times in four games, and his early-season usage shows why he can still matter even with Cincinnati’s pass-catching hierarchy back intact.
In the opener against Tampa Bay, he led the Bengals with seven targets, five catches, 78 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t draw a target in Week 2 at Houston, but he has scored in each of the last two games, posting three catches for 37 yards at Pittsburgh and three for 40 against Jacksonville.
After that Week 1 performance, Zac Taylor said, “Mike is a guy we can always count on,”
Gesicki’s appeal gets stronger when defenses tilt toward Chase and Higgins. Tampa Bay loaded up on Chase in the opener, and Higgins’ pick route helped spring Gesicki for a 2-yard touchdown.
At 6-foot-6, he also offers a different kind of red-zone threat than Cincinnati’s other receivers, while Drew Sample handles more of the blocking work. That makes Gesicki more touchdown-dependent than volume-driven, but the role is still useful.
The matchup pushes things further in his direction. Miami has allowed 18.6 PPR points per game to tight ends, fifth-most in the league, and has given up 29 catches for 333 yards to the position.
Meyers’ rise last week came because he was asked to fill the space Chase left behind. Against Jacksonville, he caught seven of nine targets for 82 yards and led Bengals wideouts in snaps after Chase left in the second quarter. Joe Burrow threw 54 passes in the 22-17 loss, giving Meyers plenty of work in an emergency role.
“Two weeks in a row, Dohnte’s been thrust into roles that he didn’t necessarily practice during the week,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said.
With Chase and Higgins back, that kind of workload is unlikely to hold. Meyers slides back into the No. 3 receiver spot he occupied in Week 3 at Pittsburgh, when he caught three of five targets for 29 yards while playing 55% of the snaps. Higgins has averaged 100.3 receiving yards per game, and Chase remains the focal point, so Meyers’ chances of repeating last week’s target spike take a hit.
The Dolphins don’t offer much help there, either. Miami has allowed 22.2 PPR points per game to receivers, third-fewest in the league, and has given up just one touchdown to the position.
Meyers does have one extra lane to fantasy value, since he returned six kickoffs for 161 yards in Week 4. That matters only in leagues that count return yardage.
So for Bengals players at Miami, Gesicki is the cleaner Week 5 start. He profiles as a TE1 streamer against the winless Dolphins, while Meyers is more of a deep-league PPR flex with Chase and Higgins back in the lineup.
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The Bengals keep finding themselves in the same offensive conversation under Zac Taylor: plenty of talent, but not enough variety. With Joe Burrow, JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins all spending too much time unavailable because of injuries, Cincinnati has had to navigate stretches without its full trio, and the lack of a more flexible run game has only sharpened the focus on how the offense is being put together.
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A recent PFF report added fuel to that discussion by connecting the Bengals to potential defensive upgrades, the kind of veteran support that could help at linebacker and in the secondary. It is a reminder that the front office may have to weigh a rare in-season move if the current group leaves enough doubt over the next few weeks, even if this is not the sort of deadline lane Cincinnati usually prefers to drive in. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Browns Pregame Meeting Could Mean Bengals Decisions Are Coming
A pregame conversation between Mike Brown and agent Drew Rosenhaus added a little extra intrigue around the Bengals before their meeting with the Dolphins. Brown was spotted speaking privately with Rosenhaus, whose client list includes players on both rosters, which naturally turns a routine sideline moment into something worth watching for anyone keeping an eye on Cincinnatis roster plans.
With several of Rosenhaus Bengals clients either working on rookie deals or moving toward the kind of contract situations that usually prompt front-office conversations, the timing stood out. It could have been about extensions, trades or even playing time, though nothing has been confirmed, and for now it leaves the Bengals with the familiar kind of pregame mystery that often means there may be decisions coming soon. [Read more 🡒]