Mina Kimes Names Bengals Tight End Who Could 'Move the Needle' in 2026

The Cincinnati Bengals know what they have at the top of their offense: Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Chase Brown.

But for ESPN's Mina Kimes, Erick All Jr. is another player who could quietly make a major difference in how Cincinnati operates in 2026.

"Thinking about the Bengals and what would move the needle for them this year, other than we know Chase and Higgins, we don't have to talk about them," Kimes said. "That to me, he is a player to monitor as someone who could potentially give them a changeup."

Major Shift Toward 12 Personnel

Sep 29, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Cincinnati Bengals tight end Erick All Jr. (83) before the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

The numbers show how dramatically Cincinnati's approach has changed in recent years.

Our Jay Morrison crunched the numbers and the Bengals ran 306 of their 1,057 offensive plays from 12 personnel last season. That 28.9 percent rate ranked ninth in the NFL, and their 306 snaps ranked ninth as well.

It wasn't a one-year development, either. Cincinnati used 12 personnel on 314 of 1,080 plays in 2024, ranking eighth in total snaps and ninth by percentage.

That's a massive jump from earlier in Joe Burrow's career. The Bengals ran just 106 plays from 12 personnel in 2023, 67 in 2022, and 123 in 2021. They ranked 27th or worse in total 12-personnel snaps in each of those three seasons.

The issue, as Kimes noted, was that using two tight ends didn't necessarily make Cincinnati effective in those looks last season. She cited the Bengals' overall minus-0.1 EPA per play and minus-0.16 EPA per pass with two tight ends on the field.

All could change the equation.

"Erick All coming back from injury is fascinating to me in this regard because in 2024, his rookie season, when he did play, they were very good with two tight ends on the field," Kimes said. "He has that all-around skill set that you kind of have to have if you actually want to make teams respect you with two tight ends and respect the run."

All caught 20 passes for 158 yards in nine games as a rookie before suffering a season-ending injury. His ability to contribute as both a receiver and a blocker gives the Bengals more flexibility than a tight end who signals the offense's intentions based on when he's on the field.

There's another layer to the Bengals' potential offensive evaluation — despite their increased use of two-tight-end personnel, they've remained among the NFL's most shotgun-heavy teams.

Cincinnati ran only 195 plays last season from under center, 31st in the NFL. They ranked 30th in 2024 and 2023 and 28th in 2022. The last time the Bengals approached the middle of the league was 2021, when their 399 under-center snaps ranked 15th.

Her guest on the show, Jon Ledyard, believes All and Drew Sample could give the Bengals the personnel needed to change that approach and force defenses to take their running game more seriously.

"If he's able to play a lot, yeah, he and Drew Sample would be a nice start to some of that 12 personnel stuff that you're talking about in terms of making people respect you in the run game," Ledyard said.

Of course, the Bengals don't need to overhaul an offense built around Burrow, Chase, Higgins, and Brown. However, if All can make their two-tight-end packages more unpredictable and help the Bengals become more comfortable playing under center, he could be exactly the type of changeup that Kimes believes has been missing.

If the Bengals continue leaning into two tight end sets like they did last season, what will it take for them to get better at it?

On the pod, @LedyardNFLDraft and I discussed the significance of TE Erick All, who looked promising as a rookie. pic.twitter.com/BsQLdzMFNR
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) August 21, 2026

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