Rookie Erick All Jr.'s versatility gives the Bengals' busiest tight ends a boost

After the Bengals' tight ends caught 151 yards, as many yards as the arm of three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, in Sunday's improbable game in Kansas City, a question was asked.

In the 25 years of Paycor Stadium, have the Bengals ever had a tight end as versatile and talented as rookie Erick All Jr.?

Considering All was built about a half-hour from Paycor, three days after the building made its NFL debut in 2000, it's a good question as the stadium is prepared for Monday night's game (8:15 p.m. – Cincinnati Channel 9) against the Commanders.

Don't ask everyone. He's a Jason Witten type because when he was growing up in Fairfield, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, his family cheered for the Cowboys on Monday nights. Not the Monday, of course, when they make the pilgrimage south on I-75.

“It's going to be crazy. I'm going to treat it like any other game,” All said. “I'm going to play with all my heart and do whatever it takes.”

There was Reggie Kelly, one of the talented, dedicated veterans that Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis used to rebuild the program early this century. Kelly was their spiritual leader and a monstrous blocker. But he didn't have a longer catch than the 19-yard pass All caught on Sunday until his fourth season with the Bengals.

The next decade, the Bengals drafted Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert in the first round, three years apart. Gresham had four 50-catch seasons in one of the Bengals' most underrated careers, but he couldn't run or jump like All. Eifert was a Pro Bowl receiver (2015), but he couldn't catch blocks, so Gresham could run free for a route, like All did for Mike Gesicki last Sunday.

In the Joe Burrow era, CJ Uzomah and Hayden Hurst were decisive and good. But they couldn't contain edge rusher George Karlaftis III (17 sacks over the past two seasons) on fourth-and-three, and the game in the second half didn't get as turbulent as All in Arrowhead on a go-big-or-goal fourth-and-goal from the 3.

“It's fair to say that. I just find it hard to imagine someone with the same qualities. We're excited about Erick. He has a great future ahead of him,” says offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher, who joined us in 2016 and saw Eifert tie the 2019 Burrow Bowl with a last-second 25-yard catch from Andy Dalton Lofts.

“He struggled on that (fourth attempt). The weakness of this defense is that the tight end has to work.”