Daniel Coats. If a player brings about a reaction that's non-too-kind from Bengals fans, it's Daniel Coats. His hands, the culprit. According to Football Outsiders, Coats dropped seven of the 31 passes for a league high drop rate of 22.6%. However, Coats isn't expected to be much of a factor in the team's passing game, unless they push Coats out in the flats and Palmer hits the fullback/tight end for an out under pressure.
Now according to Coats, he played through much of the season with an injured finger. "I tore all the ligaments in my ring finger in the third game of the regular season last year." Coats was hardly used in the passing game this preseason, catching three passes for 29 yards receiving.
Still, being an intended target is but a fraction of his uses with the Bengals. They like his versatility, playing tight end, fullback and special teams. And the whole tight end and fullback versatility aspect is a big thing for the Bengals, who are unlikely to keep a fullback by this time tomorrow.
Therefore, the Bengals are keeping Coats, tweets Joe Reedy. Coats was our 47th lock for the roster on our 53-man roster prediction.