Jermaine Gresham

The Bengals expect to receive increased production out of tight end Jermaine Gresham. It's not just because he's more experienced. It's the result of one particular experience.

"Jermaine going to the Pro Bowl last year was the best teaching, coaching experience we could ever have with him for him to mature," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "He's a different man – very, very confident in himself."

QB Andy Dalton believes he's more in sync with Gresham this year.

“In the first year in the offense last year, there was definitely a learning curve," Dalton said. "But for us being in our second year (playing together), we can talk about things and understand things, or relate to a game last year. Things like that. He’s done a good job of coming in and getting a good feel for what’s going on. I think definitely he might catch some more balls this year, just from having a little bit better understanding of the offense and what we’re trying to do.”

Gresham has the talent to become a bona fide fantasy TE1. His 108 receptions in his first two seasons is the 12th-most in the history of the league. With Jerome Simpson gone, it's unlikely that the 105 targets he saw in 2011 are going to whoever wins Cincy's WR2 job. That means that Gresham could see an increase in the 92 targets (11th among TEs) he received last season.