Erick All Jr. may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think about the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense, but ESPN’s Mina Kimes sees a player who could matter in a real way by 2026.
Cincinnati’s core is already set at the top with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown. Still, Kimes pointed to All as the kind of piece that could give the Bengals something different.
"Thinking about the Bengals and what would move the needle for them this year, other than we know Chase and Higgins, we don't have to talk about them," Kimes said. "That to me, he is a player to monitor as someone who could potentially give them a changeup."
That idea ties directly to how Cincinnati has been using its personnel. The Bengals ran 306 of their 1,057 offensive plays from 12 personnel last season, according to Jay Morrison’s numbers, a 28.9 percent rate that ranked ninth in the NFL. Their 306 snaps out of that grouping also ranked ninth.
It wasn’t a one-season blip, either. In 2024, Cincinnati used 12 personnel on 314 of 1,080 plays, again finishing eighth in total snaps and ninth by percentage.
Go back a little further, though, and the picture changes fast. The Bengals ran only 106 plays from 12 personnel in 2023, then 67 in 2022 and 123 in 2021. In each of those seasons, they ranked 27th or worse in total 12-personnel snaps.
The problem, as Kimes pointed out, is that more two-tight-end usage did not automatically translate into efficiency. She cited Cincinnati’s minus-0.1 EPA per play and minus-0.16 EPA per pass when using two tight ends last season.
That’s where All becomes interesting. In his rookie year in 2024, he caught 20 passes for 158 yards in nine games before a season-ending injury. Kimes said his return is worth watching because of the way he can function in both parts of the offense.
"Erick All coming back from injury is fascinating to me in this regard because in 2024, his rookie season, when he did play, they were very good with two tight ends on the field," Kimes said. "He has that all-around skill set that you kind of have to have if you actually want to make teams respect you with two tight ends and respect the run."
There’s also the way Cincinnati lines up overall. Even with the rise in two-tight-end packages, the Bengals have stayed one of the league’s most shotgun-heavy offenses.
They ran just 195 plays under center last season, which ranked 31st in the NFL. They were 30th in both 2024 and 2023, and 28th in 2022.
The last time they were closer to the middle of the pack was 2021, when their 399 under-center snaps ranked 15th.
Jon Ledyard, who joined Kimes on the show, said All and Drew Sample could help Cincinnati get more out of those looks and make defenses take the run game seriously.
"If he's able to play a lot, yeah, he and Drew Sample would be a nice start to some of that 12 personnel stuff that you're talking about in terms of making people respect you in the run game," Ledyard said.
The Bengals do not need to reinvent the offense. Burrow, Chase, Higgins and Brown already give them a strong foundation. But if All can make the two-tight-end packages less predictable and help Cincinnati get more comfortable under center, he could become the kind of changeup Kimes thinks they’ve been missing.
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