What You Need To Know:

• Eifert appeared in all 16 games for the Bengals last year, although he played only 44.6% of the team’s snaps.
• He wasn’t a major red zone weapon with only 3 scores on 43 catches.
• Signing with the Jags reunites him with former OC Jay Gruden. But another part-time role very likely awaits.

Eifert stays available

Availability has long been the issue with Eifert. Since entering the league in 2013, he’s missed a whopping 53 games.

Miraculously, he played a full slate in 2019.He just wasn’t the same guy that flashed early-career TE1 potential. The team allowed him to play only 44.6% of the snaps, 2nd among Bengals TEs. He ranked 4th among Bengals in targets (63) despite a lost season from A.J. Green.

As you’d expect, the 29-year-old mostly worked in the short passing game. Just 2 of his targets flew 20+ air yards, per Pro Football Focus. He tallied a career-low 10.1 yards per catch and 2.6 yards after catch per reception.

Fresh start

After 7 years in Cincinnati, Eifert packed his bags for Jacksonville to reunite with former Bengals OC (and current Jags play caller) Jay Gruden.

The familiarity helps in such an unprecedented offseason. (And it’s nice to know that Eifert isn’t spending his offseason rehabbing an injury.)

“We get along great,” Eifert said in May of his relationship with Gruden. “I had a good understanding of the offense he runs. Just having that familiarity with the offense is nice. There’s some new stuff in here. But just being familiar with it and having a general idea of what’s going on makes it a lot easier to learn.”

Still, his outlook down south doesn’t change much. He’ll remain reliant on TD production, this time on an offense with 2nd-year QB Gardner Minshew looking to improve upon 2019’s encouraging results.

But will this really be a fantasy friendly offense? Jacksonville ranked 23rd in red zone plays per game a year ago; 26th in points. Plus,…