Tanner Hudson catches TD in Week 5 win

He’ll be sent to injured reserve. Hudson tore his pec in Week 5’s win over the Dolphins. The injury will likely keep him sidelined for the remainder of the regular season. Hudson had played 28 percent of the team’s offensive snaps and seen seven targets through five games, mostly functioning as a blocker. Drew Sample would see more snaps with Hudson sidelined.

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.

Three Bengals tight ends caught at least one pass, but All somehow was not one of them. That will probably change going forward, but this is confirmation that it’s going to be a while if All is to develop back-end streamer relevance this season.

Late in June, the Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. identified All as a key cog in the Bengals’ intended schematic switches this season. The team hopes to run more plays from under center while also increasing its play-action rate. It remains to be seen how much receiving involvement All will garner, but the team is very clearly excited about his blocking ability, both in-line and as a fullback. A pair of knee surgeries limited All’s availability through his two NFL seasons. If he can truly return to form, who’s to say he can’t be the Bengals’ long-term TE1? All recently told Dehner that getting hit by a three-wheeled truck in Greece this summer restored his confidence in his ability to take a hit. A modern-day odyssey.

Dehner reports that the Bengals have rigorously practiced lining up under center in spring practices. He believes they will remain a shotgun-first team, but thinks they could improve on their 31st under-center ranking by more than 10 spots. Among the top-40 qualifiers from 2024-25, Brown averages 5.1 yards per carry (fourth) and a 12.3 percent explosive run play rate (third) on runs when QB Joe Burrow lines up under center. From shotgun formation, Brown averages 4.5 (24th) and 7.3 percent (22nd), respectively. Even a minimal increase in under-center snaps would benefit Brown. The Bengals believe TE Erick All’s (knee) return gives them the needed flexibility to do so. He is capable of motioning into the backfield as a fullback, and “setting the edge with vicious crack blocks and overall serving as a hammer in front of Brown in the run game.” Brown finished as the RB7 last year and is being drafted as the consensus RB10 in best ball. Beating that ADP seems plausible.

All missed the end of the 2024 season and the entire 2025 season with a pair of knee surgeries, one to clear out damage done from a surgery at Iowa, and another to repair a torn ACL. He enters the third year of his rookie contract as a deep, deep sleeper in fantasy leagues behind Mike Gesicki, but All did look pretty good in 2024 while healthy. He should at least give the Bengals some usable multi-TE set snaps if necessary.

Hudson, 31, was playing on an expiring deal this season but is now locked in for 2026. The veteran tight end played on 148 offensive snaps this season, per PFF, and has never been used as anything more than a backup since entering the league in 2019. He caught 19 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns this season.

He cleared concussion protocol and will return as a thorn in the side for Noah Fant-reliant fantasy managers in Week 8. Hudson has no standalone value, but he does leech off valuable snaps.

Hudson’s expected return bodes poorly for TE Noah Fant’s target-earning potential, though Fant should still run as the primary positional receiver. Hudson sat out in Week 7, allowing Fant to operate as a streaming TE1. Fant caught 4-of-4 targets for 44 yards and one touchdown.

Hendrickson is sidelined by a hip injury, though the Bengals fortunately get EDGE Shemar Stewart (ankle) back after a four-game absence. Taylor-Britt has evidently been benched in favor of CB Josh Newton this week. The Bengals’ offense lost two tight ends last week, with Hudson suffering a concussion and Mike Gesicki suffering a pectoral injury that landed him on injured reserve this week. Bengals TE Noah Fant is suddenly on the streaming TE1 radar as a result.