Player
Mike Gesicki
TE · Bengals
His career splits into two parallel tracks: the four-year Miami run that peaked at 780 yards in 2021, and a Cincinnati reinvention where he turned 83 targets into 665 yards in 2024 after a single throwaway season in New England. The arc shows a positional TE finding his second life as a complementary slot threat.
Three teams in three years, then a quiet career-best in Cincinnati.
TrendGesicki regular-season receiving by year
| Year | Team | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | MIA | 14 | 32 | 22 | 202 | 0 |
| 2019 | MIA | 15 | 89 | 51 | 570 | 5 |
| 2020 | MIA | 15 | 85 | 53 | 703 | 6 |
| 2021 | MIA | 17 | 112 | 73 | 780 | 2 |
| 2022 | MIA | 17 | 52 | 32 | 362 | 5 |
| 2023 | NE | 15 | 45 | 29 | 244 | 2 |
| 2024 | CIN | 16 | 83 | 65 | 665 | 2 |
| 2025 | CIN | 12 | 42 | 28 | 307 | 2 |
Receiving yards by season
| Season | Receiving yards |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 202 |
| 2019 | 570 |
| 2020 | 703 |
| 2021 | 780 |
| 2022 | 362 |
| 2023 | 244 |
| 2024 | 665 |
| 2025 | 307 |
Two breakouts (73/780 in 2021, 65/665 in 2024) bookend a career that looked finished in 2022-23 when Miami's offense moved on and New England gave him 45 targets in a full season. The Bengals revived him in 2024 with 83 targets — his second-highest career total — by deploying him in the slot rather than as an inline blocker. 2025 has slid back to a complementary role behind Cincinnati's pass-catchers.
Why it matters. His career splits into two parallel tracks: the four-year Miami run that peaked at 780 yards in 2021, and a Cincinnati reinvention where he turned 83 targets into 665 yards in 2024 after a single throwaway season in New England. The arc shows a positional TE finding his second life as a complementary slot threat.
Fourth in receiving yards among the 2018 TE draft class — behind Andrews, Goedert, and Schultz.
Comparison2018-2025 regular-season receiving totals, 2018 TE draft class
| Player | Draft pick | Rec | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Andrews | R3, #86 | 484 | 5,952 | 56 |
| Dallas Goedert | R2, #49 | 409 | 4,676 | 35 |
| Dalton Schultz | R4, #137 | 405 | 4,066 | 27 |
| Mike Gesicki | R2, #42 | 353 | 3,833 | 24 |
| Tyler Conklin | R5, #157 | 270 | 2,645 | 11 |
| Hayden Hurst | R1, #25 | 203 | 1,975 | 15 |
| Will Dissly | R4, #120 | 188 | 1,999 | 15 |
| Ian Thomas | R4, #101 | 132 | 1,176 | 4 |
The headliner Hurst (Round 1, pick 25) has been the bust; the steals were Goedert and Andrews on Day 2 and Schultz in Round 4. Gesicki — picked 42nd by Miami — sits fourth in career REG receiving yards (3,833) among the class, ahead of every other TE but outpaced by Schultz (4,066) despite being drafted 95 picks earlier. Gesicki is one of only four 2018 TEs with 3,000+ career receiving yards.
Why it matters. Reframes Gesicki's standing in his draft class: he's a productive survivor but not the third-best, and the class produced four genuine starters rather than the three the original card implied.
Career red-zone profile: 84 targets, 21 TDs — a 25% target-to-TD rate.
SplitRed-zone (yardline_100 <= 20) targets and TDs by season, REG only
| Year | Team | RZ Tgts | RZ TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | MIA | 6 | 0 |
| 2019 | MIA | 11 | 4 |
| 2020 | MIA | 16 | 5 |
| 2021 | MIA | 12 | 2 |
| 2022 | MIA | 14 | 5 |
| 2023 | NE | 7 | 2 |
| 2024 | CIN | 10 | 1 |
| 2025 | CIN | 8 | 2 |
Red-zone targets per season
| Season | RZ targets |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 6 |
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2020 | 16 |
| 2021 | 12 |
| 2022 | 14 |
| 2023 | 7 |
| 2024 | 10 |
| 2025 | 8 |
Across eight seasons Gesicki has drawn 84 regular-season red-zone targets and converted 21 into TDs (25%). 2022 stands out: he scored 5 TDs on just 14 RZ targets in a year his overall volume cratered (52 total targets). 2020 was the volume peak — 16 RZ targets, 5 TDs — and the only year he cleared 15. Inside the 10, the rate climbs further: 10 TDs on 40 inside-the-10 targets (25%), and 7 TDs on 24 inside-the-5 targets (29%).
Why it matters. The 6'6" frame translates to a real goal-area role: a quarter of his red-zone targets become TDs, and the rate holds up at the goal line where defenders run out of room.
His career game came on opening day in 2020 — vs Buffalo, on prime-time.
MilestoneTop-5 single games by receiving yards
| Date | Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 W2 | vs BUF | 11 | 8 | 130 | 1 |
| 2021 W6 | vs JAX | 9 | 8 | 115 | 0 |
| 2024 W9 | vs LV | 6 | 5 | 100 | 2 |
| 2019 W9 | vs NYJ | 6 | 6 | 95 | 0 |
| 2020 W5 | vs SF | 6 | 5 | 91 | 0 |
The 130-yard line in Buffalo (Week 2, 2020) is still his career ceiling and is the only 100+ yard performance of his Miami tenure. The follow-up came four years later in Cincinnati — his 2-TD, 100-yard line vs Las Vegas in 2024 is the only multi-TD game of his post-Dolphins career.
Why it matters. Frames the rarity of his 100-yard nights: only three across an eight-season career, and the most recent one came on a new team. The post-Miami chapter has produced exactly one 100-yard game, but it was a 2-TD outing.
He's been targeted 540 times — nearly half came in just two seasons.
ComparisonTarget share concentration
| Span | Targets | % of career |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 + 2024 (peaks) | 195 | 36.1% |
| All other years | 345 | 63.9% |
| Career total | 540 | 100% |
Two seasons account for more than a third of his career targets. Outside of those, Gesicki has averaged just 58 targets per season over six years — closer to a third-down specialist than a primary pass-catcher. His career arc is the classic mid-round NFL TE shape: bursts of opportunity sandwiched between secondary roles, with one Pro-Bowl-adjacent year and a slow tapering since.
Why it matters. Highlights how concentrated his usage is. Two seasons (2021 in Miami, 2024 in Cincinnati) account for 36% of his career targets — the rest of his career has been deployed as a complementary piece averaging just 58 targets a year.
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