After losing C.J. Uzomah in free agency, the Cincinnati Bengals were in need of a starting tight end for the 2022 season, and they got that with the signing of Hayden Hurst.
However, he was only signed to a one-year deal, and has never been a high impact tight end in the NFL. He should have a good year as the starting tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals, and the team will have to look where they want to go beyond that.
One area they could look to address the tight end need is in the 2022 NFL Draft, and it seems the team is considering that for sure. They have already been reported to have met with many people’s TE1 in the upcoming draft in Trey McBride.
In the 2021 season, McBride racked up 90 catches for 1,121 yards and one score en route to winning the John Mackey Award for the nation’s top tight end. He is currently NFL.com’s second-best tight end prospect in this year’s NFL Draft.
As of now, McBride is projected to go somewhere in the Day 2 range. Perhaps he’ll be in play for the Bengals with their second-round pick at 63rd overall. It’s hard to see McBride slipping to the Bengals’ third-round pick at 95th overall.
There is also a report of the Bengals meeting with an intriguing late round tight end prospect in Grant Calcaterra.
Calcaterra medically retired from football due to concussions following the 2019 season. After sitting out the 2020 season he decided to come back and had a pretty good year as the lead tight end for SMU, hauling in 38 balls for 465 yards and four scores.
While these two are the only rumored connections so far, it would not be a surprise to hear more. It seems unlikely the Bengals consider tight end in the first round in a weak class, but after that, it would not be surprising to see them attack the position with a second or third-round pick.
