Historically the Bengals have had good pass-catching tight ends. One owned a Super Bowl record, others made the Pro Bowl. However, it's been a long time since the Bengals have utilized the position mostly because T.J. Houshmandzadeh was as effective as tight ends underneath. So Bob Bratkowski and the Bengals decided to use Reggie Kelly in a blocking role. Daniel Coats became that too. Ben Utecht was brought end to make the position dynamic; but injury disabled that growth in the offensive playbook.
When the Bengals drafted Chase Coffman in April, there was an upbeat optimism that the Bengals would have an effective tight end running routes again. His career at Missouri is well documented. Even though "he fractured the fifth metatarsal in his left foot on Missouri’s final offensive play in the Alamo Bowl", the Bengals used the 98th overall pick on him.
It's taken him some time to get back, and still claims to have work ahead of him. But he's back on the field this weekend, participating in minicamp.
“My foot’s still not 100 percent, but it’s more than great to get back out here and start doing stuff again,” Coffman said. “These are my first couple of practices. There’s still a lot of stuff I need to crispen up and just make smoother. But for the most part, I’m getting the offense down and I’m excited to keep learning.”
Career at Missouri:
| YEAR | REC | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
| 2005 | 47 | 503 | 10.7 | 33 | 4 |
| 2006 | 58 | 638 | 11.0 | 37 | 9 |
| 2007 | 52 | 531 | 10.2 | 33 | 7 |
| 2008 | 90 | 987 | 11.0 | 48 | 10 |
While not 100%, Chase Coffman participates in minicamp