Tag: Tanner McLachlan

Bengals warned against trying to hide breakout TE on practice squad

One expert says the Bengals won’t get away with slipping a sleeper onto the practice squad during final cuts.

The Cincinnati Bengals suddenly have a very good problem at the tight end position.

What was once a question mark that rotated one-offs as the top guys on the depth chart for Joe Burrow has morphed into a strength — so much so, the team might have to roster at least five tight ends at cut downs soon.

And sixth-round rookie Tanner McLachlan might just be one of them.

McLachlan is projected to be a distant fifth on the depth chart and in danger of losing a roster spot. Mike Gesicki arrived via free agency to act as the No. 1 option, Drew Sample’s role is locked down, Tanner Hudson broke out last year and fourth-rounder Erick All is a high-upside lock who likely only fell in the draft due to his injury history.

But as Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson put it recently, the Bengals might not have a choice when it comes to McLachlan:

Again, a good problem to have. At this point, if the staff really feels the numbers crunch, they might instead opt to take their chances that Hudson slips through the cracks. He’ll turn 30 in October, and while last year was good, McLachlan is 25.

The Bengals have to be thinking about the long-term at the position right now. If Gesicki breaks out, he’ll be the latest Burrow tight end to go make bank elsewhere. And if he doesn’t, he might be gone, anyway.

In theory, All is the No. 1 of the future, but there are injury concerns. That might leave McLachlan, whose underusage at Arizona might’ve helped push him to the Bengals later in the sixth round than he had any business going.

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Bengals had starter grades on rookie TEs Erick All, Tanner McLachlan

The Bengals had high grades on both rookie TEs they drafted.

The Cincinnati Bengals have high hopes for the pair of tight ends they selected in the 2024 NFL draft.

That much the Bengals made clear with comments about fourth-rounder Erick All right after the draft ended.

But hearing the team talk about All and sixth-rounder Tanner McLachlan as spring work for rookies begins really hammers home the point.

“We had starter grades on Erick and we think McLachlan is an explosive, dynamic weapon in the pass game,” Potts said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “We think he can be a potential difference-maker going into the future. We were really glad with how the value played in the sixth round. We thought he was going to go higher than that.”

For now, both rookies very much sit behind new arrival Mike Gesicki, Drew Sample and Tanner Hudson on the depth chart. All could even start the year on the PUP, depending on the injury progress he’s made from the issues that dinged his stock in the first place.

Clearly, though, the team believes it might have two guys who can eventually sit at or near the top of the depth chart, with the climb starting right now.

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3 Bengals rookies (2 of them surprises) make top 100 rankings

Two unexpected Bengals rookies get big praise.

The reviews continue to be strong for the Cincinnati Bengals draft class.

There have been plenty of good grades for the Amarius Mims-led class. Even the “heightened risk” of the draft class hasn’t prevented praise either.

And now we have three of the team’s draft picks making Matt Miller’s list of top 100 best picks, steals and fits at ESPN.

The first isn’t a shocker — Mims, the team’s first-round pick, checks in at No. 39 overall, with Miller noting the offensive tackle’s “ceiling is All Pro-caliber.”

More interesting is sixth-round pick Tanner McLachlan checking in at No. 63:

The Bengals used two picks on Day 3 at the tight end position, and both could be listed here — but I’ll go with McLachlan over Erick All as the better pick. He is a throwback with excellent toughness and an ability to find soft zones and sink into them. Quarterback Joe Burrow is going to love having a reliable target like him over the middle.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen massive praise for the McLachlan pick.

And just two spots later at No. 65, Cincinnati’s other sixth-round pick, defensive end Cedric Johnson:

Time will tell if the Bengals will ultimately give in to the trade request of star pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson, and if the front office does move him, it needed to secure more depth at defensive end. Johnson has to develop more pass-rush tools, but his potential is much better than a sixth-round selection would have you believe.

Johnson had some impressive grading numbers from PFF that were notable right after the draft.

It speaks to the quality of Cincinnati’s draft class that three prospects make a list like this — and two of them came late in the process. If those late-rounders can eventually make an impact, it eases the concern at critical positions as the team attempts to balance a tricky checkbook while contending around a star quarterback.

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Bengals rookie named one of top steals of his 2024 NFL draft round

Here’s a name Bengals fans haven’t heard much … yet.

When it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals’ 2024 draft class, some names are bigger than others.

Jermaine Burton and his texts from Joe Burrow, for example, is bigger than most. And late-rounder Josh Newton is making some noise, too.

But fans haven’t heard all that much about sixth-round pick Tanner McLachlan out of Arizona.

Until now, anyway, with ESPN’s Field Yates naming the tight end as one of his favorite steals and values of the draft:

McLachlan was one of my favorite sleepers in the class and my 113th-ranked player. He has excellent size (6-5, 244 pounds) and is an instinctive/smooth route runner with really good skills after the catch. Cincinnati was a rare team that leaned on a legitimate rotation of tight ends in 2023 (four consistently saw play time), and McLachlan figures to be a part of something similar, with Mike Gesicki and fellow draftee Erick All also with the Bengals this season.

McLachlan was notable on the consensus boards after the draft, but even on the Bengals, he has otherwise been a quiet name compared to fellow tight end and rookie Erick All.

Not that the Bengals will complain. The team has revamped the tight end depth chart at the top (Mike Gesicki) and behind the usual names (Drew Sample, Tanner Hudson). McLachlan’s underrated all-around game gives him a legit shot at the final 53.

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Instant analysis of Bengals picking Tanner McLachlan in the sixth round

Instant analysis after the Bengals make a pick in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft.

The Cincinnati Bengals reinforced the tight end depth chart again with the first of their two sixth-round picks in the 2024 NFL draft.

At No. 194, they added Arizona tight end Tanner McLachlan, who just came off career-highs in receptions (45), receiving yards (528) and touchdowns (4) last season.

While an older prospect, the Bengals clearly intend to have McLachlan contribute if those on the depth chart in front of him go down.

Here’s a quick evaluation from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein:

McLachlan is a slightly challenging evaluation, as his measurables and traits don’t really match the intangibles and effort he puts on tape. He plays with the spirit of an in-line tight end and flashes what it takes to execute blocks, but he’s missing the mass and play strength for one to confidently project him as a pro blocker at this point. While McLachlan has short arms and average speed, he still finds ways to go get the football outside his frame and does whatever it takes to add yards after catch. There are boxes that go unchecked, but his “whatever it takes” mentality is the kind of intangible that often turns prospects into pros.

This pick is a clear balancing of the scales at the position in the draft. Earlier on Day 3, they added Erick All out of Iowa, whose medicals make him a risk — but he boasts fantastic upside.

At this stage of his career, McLachlan doesn’t project to have a similar ceiling, but if the team can get a Tanner Hudson-style performance out of him every now and then, it’s a really good pick.

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Bengals select Arizona TE Tanner McLachlan in sixth round, 194th overall

The Bengals have made a pick in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft.

The Cincinnati Bengals added another tight end in the 2024 NFL draft with Arizona’s Tanner McLachlan at No. 194.

McLachlan, 6’5″ and 244 pounds, caught 45 passes for 528 yards and four scores last season and was Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 Conference.

A strong blocker and capable weapon in the passing game, McLachlan is yet another answer at the tight end depth chart after adding Mike Gesicki, re-signing two others and losing depth like Mitchell Wilcox this offseason.

In the fourth round, the Bengals picked Iowa tight end Erick All, then followed that up in the fifth round by finding a pro-ready cornerback with TCU’s Josh Newton.

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2024 Senior Bowl preview: Tight ends

A preview of the seven tight ends that will be in Mobile for the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The 2024 NFL Draft starts in Mobile!

The Reese’s Senior Bowl game will be held Saturday, February 3rd, with the practices occurring the week leading up to it, starting Tuesday, January 30th. It is also one of the first major stops in the pre-draft process before the teams are on the clock on April 25th.

Even more exciting, this year’s Senior Bowl may be one of the more anticipated in recent memory. There will be over 100 NFL prospects competing all week in front of scouts and draft pundits alike and the talent this year will be easy to see throughout the week.

Outside of the big names like Brock Bowers, Ja’Tavion Sanders and possibly Cade Stover, there may not be a lot of name recognition with this season’s tight-end class. In this preview, we will look at the seven tight ends who will be looking to become household names by the time their names are called in the upcoming draft.

Other previews:

Quarterbacks
Running backs