Cincinnati Bengals: More Tight End Issues

Move over Deadliest Catch.

The most dangerous job in the world might now be playing tight end for the Bengals.

After losing Reggie Kelly for the year, Daniel Coats promptly twisted his ankle, and Ben Utecht continued the trend yesterday by getting severely concussed.

Utecht was apparently participating in a drill and was hit hard by Darryl Blackstock. The blow left him unconscious and prompted immediate prayers from teammates.

The Bengals are now down to two healthy tight ends after starting with five.

Darius Hill may have to stop refilling water bottles and actually participate in drills. The list of available tight ends is extremely unimpressive, but the Bengals need to bring in bodies to keep Chase Coffman healthy and fresh until Coats and Utecht recover.

Bubba Franks is a name that continues to get bounced around, but two tight ends that were formerly with division rivals in Jerame Tuman and Daniel Wilcox seem like better solutions in my opinion. It's also possible the Bengals will just re-sign Matt Sherry, their 2008 sixth-round waste pick.

I hold my stance of not being too concerned over this situation. There are going to be injuries in training camp and the one place the Bengals could probably afford them was at tight end.

Tight end has never been something other teams have had to game plan around in the Marvin era. Consider that the top three ends on the depth chart have gone down with injuries and our replacement is the 2008 John Mackey Award winner.

There's one thing everyone can be really excited about with all these injuries.

Brad St. Louis will probably be spending less time with his head between his legs and more running routes and pretending to be a tight end. You just can't teach that type of versatility.