The Bengals just resigned veteran tight end Reggie Kelly back to the Bengals. He had missed all of last season because he tore his Achilles tendon during training camp.

This will be Kelly’s eighth season with the club. Which means that he should receive an award titled something like “How the Hell Did You Stay with the Bengals and not Get Arrested and Actually be a Good Person” Award. I mean, this has to be a feat on the level of climbing Mt. Everest without a Sherpa or dating Paris Hilton without contracting some sort of unheard disease.

Kelly has been the consummate pro. He’s a great leader in the locker room and his teammates respect him.  He’s not flashy: he has 1,718 receiving yards and 4 TDs  in 90 games for the Bengals, which definitely doesn’t qualify him as a “receiving” tight end.  But he’s a solid blocker and Carson Palmer always vouched him and was vocal in bringing Kelly back numerous times.

The biggest thing that Kelly can do this season is mentor the two youngest and most talented tight ends on the team: Jermaine Gresham and Chase Coffman. Both of these guys had huge stats in college for passing. Neither of them have been lauded for their blocking skills.

That’s where Kelly comes in. I can’t vouch for how he feels about his current situation, but I would be excited to help mentor these kids and help the Bengals offense reach new heights.  He may not be the premiere tight end for the team, but he’ll be the most important tight end. He needs to teach these two young bucks how to block. Because right now, if Gresham and Coffman can learn how to block, and then you combine that with their receiving skills?

The sky’s the limit.

I don’t want to get too, too excited about this, but right now I’m envisioning our best offense – maybe even better – since the 2005 season where we had one of the most explosive offenses in the league.

If we have two tight ends who are #1: both 6-6, #2: catch the ball, and #3: block the feces out of people, I think we might have a gold mine with the two tight end set formation. With Coffman and Gresham in the backfield on first down, I can see two questions pop up in the defensive coordinator’s mind that could truly eff him up: 1. Are these guys going to be blocking for running back Cedric Benson? 2. How are we going to stop both Coffman and Gresham in the middle of the field with Chad Ochocinco and Antonio Bryant on the left and right side?

I mean, if you think about, this formation could function as either a four-wide receiver set, three-wide-receiver (with Gresham or Coffman blocking), or a straight-up run play. Any one of these scenarios could yield huge gains, and you could use these formations on most downs too.

I’m so excited, I think I might’ve wet my pants.

But it all comes down to Kelly teaching these kids how to block, which shouldn’t be too tough. At least he doesn’t have to teach Daniel Coats how to catch, which would be a lost cause. I’m ready for the season to start now, but we have more than four months to go.  At least the Reds are doing well.  I hope they can stay in the race at least until September to get me through the summer.

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