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Jermaine Gresham, TE, Cincinnati Bengals (1 Viewer)

Jason Wood

Zoo York
2011 Player Spotlight Series

One of Footballguys best assets is our message board community. The Shark Pool is, in our view, the best place on the internet to discuss, debate and analyze all things fantasy football. In what's become an annual tradition, the Player Spotlight series is a key part of the preseason efforts. As many of you know, we consider the Player Spotlight threads the permanent record for analyzing the fantasy prospects of the player in question. This year, we plan to publish more than 140 offensive spotlights covering the vast majority of expected skill position starters.

With the labor uncertainty, there are more unanswered questions entering the summer than usual. The good news is that gives us some more time to discuss the merits of players without having to react (or overreact) to the smallest bits of news about a slight injury in practice, or coach speak. We'll have plenty of time for that when it comes (we hope).

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Thread Topic: Jermaine Gresham, TE, Cincinnati Bengals

Player Page Link: Jermaine Gresham Player Page

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Ho-Hum talent in what will be a Ho-Hum offense in a very difficult division. Nice Playoff schedule but if you are starting him as your TE all year, that won't matter.

Will need a large number of targets to put up fantasy starting TE numbers, and I just don't see it happening

60 rec

550 yards

4 TDs

 
Ho-Hum talent in what will be a Ho-Hum offense in a very difficult division. Nice Playoff schedule but if you are starting him as your TE all year, that won't matter.Will need a large number of targets to put up fantasy starting TE numbers, and I just don't see it happening60 rec550 yards4 TDs
Disagree greatly on the ho hum talent part. Was a huge fan of his in college and he did nothing last year to make me think he won't be a top TE as soon as this year (easily a TE1). As poor as the offense projects to be this year if they are starting a rookie QB, I still see him leading the team in targets (somewhere in the 90s or low 100s). He's also an absolute beast and match-up nightmare in the red zone.Ceiling:70 / 775 / 7 TDs (TE4 last year)Floor:60 / 660 / 5 TDs (TE12 last year)ETA: Ceiling/Floor projections
 
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Ho-Hum talent in what will be a Ho-Hum offense in a very difficult division. Nice Playoff schedule but if you are starting him as your TE all year, that won't matter.Will need a large number of targets to put up fantasy starting TE numbers, and I just don't see it happening60 rec550 yards4 TDs
Disagree greatly on the ho hum talent part. Was a huge fan of his in college and he did nothing last year to make me think he won't be a top TE as soon as this year (easily a TE1). As poor as the offense projects to be this year if they are starting a rookie QB, I still see him leading the team in targets (somewhere in the 90s or low 100s). He's also an absolute beast and match-up nightmare in the red zone.Ceiling:70 / 775 / 7 TDs (TE4 last year)Floor:60 / 660 / 5 TDs (TE12 last year)
I must admit that I didn't see more than 3-4 Bengals games last year and most of my assumption was statistically based.Longest play was 27 yards and only 5 plays over 20 yards make it very difficult to believe he is an explosive player. Perhaps he was still progressing from his knee injury? 9 Redzone targets is what I'm seeing...did Carson Palmer not realize he was such a match-up nightmare?
 
Ho-Hum talent in what will be a Ho-Hum offense in a very difficult division. Nice Playoff schedule but if you are starting him as your TE all year, that won't matter.Will need a large number of targets to put up fantasy starting TE numbers, and I just don't see it happening60 rec550 yards4 TDs
Disagree greatly on the ho hum talent part. Was a huge fan of his in college and he did nothing last year to make me think he won't be a top TE as soon as this year (easily a TE1). As poor as the offense projects to be this year if they are starting a rookie QB, I still see him leading the team in targets (somewhere in the 90s or low 100s). He's also an absolute beast and match-up nightmare in the red zone.Ceiling:70 / 775 / 7 TDs (TE4 last year)Floor:60 / 660 / 5 TDs (TE12 last year)
I must admit that I didn't see more than 3-4 Bengals games last year and most of my assumption was statistically based.Longest play was 27 yards and only 5 plays over 20 yards make it very difficult to believe he is an explosive player. Perhaps he was still progressing from his knee injury? 9 Redzone targets is what I'm seeing...did Carson Palmer not realize he was such a match-up nightmare?
Being a Bengals homer, I watched every play of every game last year. I evaluate the player, not the statistics. While I think the knee injury certainly was a factor, I feel the two biggest things holding Gresham (and his ypc) back were Bratkowski with his awful playcalling and Carson with his noodle arm. While Gresh was prone to mental lapses and sideline mini-blowups last year, I didn't look at that as a negative. What that showed me was his desire to be great. He often was too hard on himself, but not to the detriment of the team. With a season under his belt, I have full faith in his abilities to make the leap to every week TE1 status. He has Top 3 talent. Of that, I'm extremely confident.Bratkowski is gone and Palmer most likely will be too.I think Jay Gruden will maximize his talents. I don't think I'm being an overly optimistic homer. He's that good.
 
Ho-Hum talent in what will be a Ho-Hum offense in a very difficult division. Nice Playoff schedule but if you are starting him as your TE all year, that won't matter.Will need a large number of targets to put up fantasy starting TE numbers, and I just don't see it happening60 rec550 yards4 TDs
Disagree greatly on the ho hum talent part. Was a huge fan of his in college and he did nothing last year to make me think he won't be a top TE as soon as this year (easily a TE1). As poor as the offense projects to be this year if they are starting a rookie QB, I still see him leading the team in targets (somewhere in the 90s or low 100s). He's also an absolute beast and match-up nightmare in the red zone.Ceiling:70 / 775 / 7 TDs (TE4 last year)Floor:60 / 660 / 5 TDs (TE12 last year)
I must admit that I didn't see more than 3-4 Bengals games last year and most of my assumption was statistically based.Longest play was 27 yards and only 5 plays over 20 yards make it very difficult to believe he is an explosive player. Perhaps he was still progressing from his knee injury? 9 Redzone targets is what I'm seeing...did Carson Palmer not realize he was such a match-up nightmare?
Yea to add to what doowain said, Gresham is anything but a ho-hum talent. On physical ability alone he is a top 5 TE in the league IMO, and as he gets more experience I think that is where he will end up residing.
 
gresham was a consensus no brainer lock first round pick despite a prior torn acl in high school and missing his entire senior college season with a torn meniscus.

anyway, im not as confident as the rest in grudens utilization of his talent. he was an offensive coach from 02-08 with tampa and te was quite clearly an after thought. certainly that was at least partially a function of lack of talent at the position. but you can also consider that it was never a priority to acquire suitable talent.

fwiw, from my viewings of the bungles, it seemed that gresham was dangerous and effective in space. he is a very good open field runner.

 
I can't justify going with a large improvement given the current qb situation. This offense could be a mess this year with all the changes and less time than normal to acclimate themselves to those changes.

60 -635 - 6 13th rated

Probably a higher upside than a few guys right there so perhaps a spot or two higher would be ok.

 
'by_the_sea_wannabe said:
I can't justify going with a large improvement given the current qb situation. This offense could be a mess this year with all the changes and less time than normal to acclimate themselves to those changes.60 -635 - 6 13th ratedProbably a higher upside than a few guys right there so perhaps a spot or two higher would be ok.
I think this seems reasonable for Gresham this year, very close to what I'm thinking and why.
 
Agree with others that he is not a ho-hum talent. I think the rookie (or at least new) QB could help as Palmer never really threw to his TEs.

Its a hard offense to project big things for him though. They are somewhat of a mishmash of personnel IMO. They have too many weapons for him to get by on targets alone and yet they aren't likely to be a highly productive offense either. Gruden does give the entire offense some extra upside though.

Fringe starter for fantasy when it all shakes out 67-665-5

 
Not much new to add for me. I too think that Gresham is a player and will grow into a greater share of the offensive plan in Cinci. However, the team could be in a real turnover mode with the losses of Palmer and Owens and maybe 85 Chad as well.

Depending on the amount of time that a new OC, a new QB and a new WR have to mesh in the off season could really impact the production for the entire Bengals team this year.

Maybe this means that Gresham could be a buy low dynasty candidate. If and when the Bengals get it all together, it likely will feature a young QB, WR, and TE trio that could grow well together.

Gresham 16 gms 98 targets 63 catches 64% 693 yds 11.0 ypc and 7 TDs

 
It just didn't seem like Palmer wanted to check down to his TE last season. When given a chance, I thought Gresham was pretty good at turning up field and getting yardage. I don't seem as the type of guy that will ever be an elite TE in this league. I really don't look at the QB situation in Cinci all that much of a negative as some QB's will look for their TE a lot more than what Carson Palmer did last year. I think Gresham is a TE that should finish in the 10 to 15 range.

59 catches, 650 yards and 5 td's

 
agree with iwbacbb, the QB situation is likely a positive for gresham. also the change of staff. the old oc was mundane and strictly downfield pro style. good chance the new gruden regime will find ways to utilize gresham and exploit his open field abilities with the west coast system.

 
Even as a Bengals homer, its hard to know what to expect out of Gresham this year. We don't know exactly what the offense will look like. We don't know how good Dalton will be.

The only real knock I have on Gresham is that he seems to be a little bit of a slow learner. Thus, a slow start in a new offense wouldn't shock me. I think the projections in this thread are pretty accurate. 60-65 catches. 700 yards or so. 5-7 TDs.

However, long term in a dynasty league, there aren't more than a handful of TEs I'd rather own. He is a great athlete, catches everything and looks really good running after the catch. He's going to be a top 5 fantasy TE in a couple years.

 
No doubt about Gresham's talent, but his situation isn't favorable. New system, new QB and and this is only his 2nd year. I believe Gruden will make him a bigger part of the offense, and that Dalton will look to him more often than Palmer did, maybe amounting to 1-2 more targets per game. Still it will be difficult to improve drastically with all the changes and a rookie QB.

63 rec - 600 y - 6 tds.

 
Bump for my newest dynasty pick (third TE on my DC). What I didn't like to read was this from Offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, who wants Gresham to work on inconsistencies with "blocking, route-running, and catching the ball."

"But he's shown the ability to be a dominant tight end in this league," added Gruden. "He's just got to show the ability to put it all together consistently."

Sort of a hedge. Nothing like what we've heard from guys like Cook, Kendricks and some others.

 
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I grabbed him as my 3rd TE in a dynasty league as well. I think he's still in the category of project. On the bright side, he has really long arms and just reaches up and snatches the ball away from his body. He seems to have great hands. And he was relatively productive even as a rookie coming off of a full year layoff.

As a Bengals homer, the one thing that seems to be a real concern (reading between the lines in a bunch of interviews) is that he isn't the brightest guy and doesn't always know exactly what he's supposed to be doing. Seems like Gresham was a guy who was really hurt by the lockout and missing an offseason of instruction.

Still some great upside long-term, but I don't like his chances of getting into the top 12 this year.

 
another real concern is his injury history.

but for this year, id stay away. they signed bo scaife who has caught a decent chunk off balls throughout his career. with shipley, simpson and green to feed, i just dont see enough balls to support gresham as fantasy viable. 40-50 catches and 2-4 tds.

 
another real concern is his injury history.but for this year, id stay away. they signed bo scaife who has caught a decent chunk off balls throughout his career. with shipley, simpson and green to feed, i just dont see enough balls to support gresham as fantasy viable. 40-50 catches and 2-4 tds.
The Bengals backup TE position was one of the, if not the, worst in the NFL last year. Scaife was a smart signing and he will not threaten Gresham's job or steal a sizable chunk of his targets. Gresham is clearly a better dynasty player than redraft, but I still believe he can be a TE1 this year. I will take the over...WAY over, on your prediction.
 
They say that a TE is a young Qbs best friend and if Gradkowski ends up playing, I know he will make use of Gresham. So, from a QB perspective, I like Gresham.

There is NOTHING in the depth chart behind him. Again, I like Gresham.

From a talent perspective, I think anyone who says he is ho hum is "misremembering"; likely because he was a rookie last year and injured prior. But 3 years ago, there were people saying that Jermichael Finley "might" be as athletically talented as Gresham (granted:different time, different place..The point isn't to say one is better or spark a discussion on that..its just to remind people that they were in the same vein of discussion).

I think he will have a really good year and I think later in the year as the passing game comes around and Benson likely is worn to a nub by that point, that their late season schedule and those things combined might be enough for some people to use gresham as a big contributor during fantasy playoffs.

I think a solid projection is 56-780-7 for the year.

In my ppr leagues, that would put him as a comfortable weekly starter.

 
I think Gresham is super talented - next to Gronkowski probably the best TE to come into the league in a few years. But I think the Bengals offense is going to be a Jerry Bruckheimer-style trainwreck this year if Dalton is the starter. Gradkowski would offer a bit more possibilities, but nothing to write home about.

As a multi-Gresham owner in dynasty I'm still holding out hope that Carson Palmer's offseason away from the team will make earning $11.5 million for four months work look more appealing. With average QBing Gresham becomes great value this year IMO.

 
10 catches last week and 16 the last two weeks on 19 targets. As long as Green is out Gresham has a nice high floor in PPR and low ceiling. You could find worse flex options.

 
Gresham is quite underrated now. The articles linked here show he's not likely to return to Cincy.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/08/jermaine-gresham-unlikely-to-remain-in-cincinnati/

Sports radio here in OK, also has some figuring Pettigrew is cut from Detroit and that they made his contract planning as such.

I see the lowest cap hit this year here http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/detroit-lions/brandon-pettigrew/ which does make me think hmmm but they just re-signed him.

Both these former Oklahoma tight ends have many high catch games like 9 10 catches and are good blockers. For now it seems just Gresham will be available.

 
Garbage attitude. In the first year or two he would break tackles - not anymore. Loves to stick his arm out to try in vain to get a first down inviting defenders to swat the ball out of his hands. A false-start machine. I'll be happy to see some other team overpay for his services.

-QG

 

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