Gesicki scores second TD of season vs. Steelers

Gesicki caught a third quarter touchdown against the Jaguars, his third score of the year. He saw just five targets on a day where Joe Burrow threw 54 passes and Ja’Marr Chase (concussion) exited early. However, Gesicki has a clear red zone role and he led all Bengals tight ends in snaps on the day. If Chase and Tee Higgins (adductor) miss any time, Gesicki is a tight end streaming option for Week 5.

The rollercoaster ride that is “tertiary target in a Tee Higgins/Ja’Marr Chase-centric offense.” Erick All (2/5 on three targets) lead Bengals tight ends in receptions. Drew Sample (36 of 60) led Bengals tight ends in snaps. Starting Gesicki will pay off at times, but this wasn’t one of them. He’s a TE2 in Week 3 against the Steelers.

Gesicki led the Bengals in catches, targets and yards and was the only pass catcher to score on an afternoon where the Bucs’ defense was funneling Joe Burrow to the middle of the field. Gesicki’s score was a two-yarder where he rolled in to the end zone in the first quarter. Gesicki’s yardage total would have been his second highest of 2025. He’s a valuable real-life contributor, but he is going to have trouble cracking the top 18 tight ends on a regular basis with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown all usage monsters for the Bengals.

Baby’s practice notes indicate that incumbent No. 3 WR Andrei Iosivas and No. 1 TE Mike Gesicki are the other two competitors for the role, and both players “had productive springs.” Pitcher also said RB Chase Brown “can sometimes be viewed as a slot receiver,” but those types of comments are common in the summer and rarely pan out in the fall. Iosivas and Gesicki have been helpful contributors, but the fact that the team is searching for an answer at the No. 3 receiving role is indicative of their ceilings. Pitcher believes Young is “going to fight and battle” this summer, and thinks there are things Young “can do quickly and help us.” If he can actually become the team’s third-most voluminous target earner, he could pay off as a late-round best ball pick.

Hot off a rebound 2024 season, Gesicki inked a three-year, $25.5 million contract to stay in Cincinnati in the offseason. It became apparent early in the year that Gesicki would not be giving Bengals fans an encore in 2025. He was held under 20 receiving yards in each of his first six games before a pec injury sent him to injured reserve. Gesicki started to turn things around after coming off IR, totaling 35 yards on four grabs in Week 12. At the time, it was his best game of the year. He eventually popped for a few other meaningful games, though he ultimately topped 50 yards just once on the year. He posted a 28/307/2 receiving line in total. The Bengals could save $3.3 million in cap space with a $4.3 million dead cap hit if they move on from him after the year. Either way, we don’t expect him to be on the fantasy radar in 2026.

This is close to Gesicki’s standard statline when the Bengals’ offense is at full strength, which it is at the current moment. They have a rough Week 18 matchup in the Browns, meaning Gesicki probably won’t be much of a DFS play even with the usual final Sunday chicanery primed to be more insane than ever this season.

This was only the fourth time all season Gesicki caught at least three passes, though the score was his second in three weeks. Good for him, but there’s still no reason to rank Gesicki in the top 20 for Week 17 against the Cardinals. Even in that plus matchup, you need to do better for the fantasy finals.

Taylor told reporters that Higgins — who was checked multiple times after a couple major hits on Sunday — reported symptoms after the game. Given the quick turnaround from his last concussion, it would be surprising if Higgins managed to play this week. It looks like Andrei Iosivas and Mitchell Tinsley, as well as Mike Gesicki, will be solidly on the 12-team radar for Week 15.

The Bengals were repeatedly able to get Gesicki matched up against the Bills’ slot corners, and he made multiple crucial catches, including three different third-down grabs and a touchdown catch. Gesicki essentially split the workload with Noah Fant, but you wouldn’t know that from the box score. Gesicki played the same amount of snaps as Fant and ran four more routes, but far out-produced his teammate. As a result, we’d consider this more of a one-off and view Gesicki as more of a TE2 next week against the Ravens.

Gesicki was the leader of a tight-end-by-committee in Week 13. Tanner Hudson, Drew Sample, and Noah Fant all caught one pass on two targets. Hudson’s only grab was a toe-tapping touchdown from 14 yards out. Tee Higgins was out with a concussion this week, but Geiscki did little to earn more work if Higgins misses another game. He will barely be on the TE2 radar even if Higgins remains out for Week 14 versus the Bills.