Mike Gesicki did what only two Bengals tight ends have done before in a game when he found 10 catches in the nooks and crannies of Denver's top-ten defense last Saturday night.
Now that Gesicki is three catches away from becoming the third Bengals tight end to have a 60-catch season, James Casey, his position coach who had 72 catches in nine NFL seasons, is telling you how.
"Tall Skinny," Casey is saying while he prepares for Saturday night's big, fat must game (8-ESPN) in Pittsburgh that ends the regular season.
Tall Skinny?
"You don't see a lot of guys with this body type playing tight end in the NFL," Casey says. "He's unique because of the way he's built. He's long. His stride is so long. He has such a long reach … Rangy … He's just hard to cover. He's hard to stay with for any safety or linebacker. He doesn't run traditional textbook NFL routes."
At 6-6, 245 pounds, Gesicki is the Tall Skinny X factor in the Bengals' most prolific offense of all time. He, along with running back Chase Brown, have become quarterback Joe Burrow's answers when defenses blitz or try to take NFL leading receiver Ja'Marr Chase out of the game or shade touchdown machine Tee Higgins on the other side.
After spending last week watching how Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph uses his cornerbacks in various forms of one-on-one coverage devoted to taking away the outside receivers while generating the NFL's leading pass rush, Burrow concluded this could be "a Mike game," teeming underneath the defense.
"That's great for us as tight ends," says Casey, who still sees himself playing his 96th and last NFL game.
"If we're with Ja'Marr and it's two-by-two and a two-high look, now the tight end is matched up on the linebacker and that linebacker has a lot of grass to cover because the corner is outside and the backer has a long way to the flat. That's a lot of area."
When Bengals head coach Zac Taylor brandished Gesicki's game ball for "beating all his one-on-ones," after the 30-24 win in overtime, it proved how right Burrow was.
Which brings you to maybe the biggest reason Gesicki has flourished in his first season in Cincinnati.
Tall Skinny with an edge on the field shaped by his New Jersey upbringing and a blue-collar approach honed by seven seasons in the NFL meshing with the no-nonsense Ohio Valley point guard Burrow.
There are no Tall Skinny off days during the season. Those Tuesdays (or Mondays in a playoff run) usually find Gesicki working in the weight room with rookie wide receiver Charlie Jones doing all sorts of catching drills. One involves peeking out from behind an obstacle and catching a ball at first and last glance.
"Trust," Casey says. "To come in here in less than a year and build that kind of trust with the quarterback is outstanding … Energy. Always brings a lot of energy out there."
If you think Burrow and Chase are connected by some kind of six-year Cajun ESP, Burrow and Gesicki look as if they connected overnight at first sight somewhere along the Jersey Pike. Somehow knowing instantly each other does some of their best work freelancing.
Go back to the second-to-last play of Saturday's first quarter. There is Gesicki coming back to Burrow on a first-down scramble drill for one of those coveted check-down passes that almost gets a first down.
But Broncos linebacker Cody Barton appears to barely get a hand on it and Gesicki does what he almost never does. Drops it. Then stares at the replay board in disbelief.
On the next snap, Burrow goes right back to him. He motions Gesicki to the other side in the slot next to Higgins and one of those linebackers Casey is talking about, Justin Strnad, has no shot to cover Gesicki running one of those hook patterns to the sideline he has patented. Gesicki has enough room to turn up field, keep moving past Strnad, and hurdles cornerback Riley Moss with one of his cartwheel finishes.
Twelve yards. Most after the catch. First down.
Complete with a Great Gesicki Flex.
"That's something I've been emphasizing to the room. In this league for tight ends now, it's all about yards after catch," says Casey, where 222 of Gesicki's 597 yards have come. "He's got that ability to put his foot in the ground and make that first guy miss."
Gesicki may have caught the biggest check-down of the season Saturday in a 10-10 game early in the fourth quarter. Of course, when Burrow and Gesicki are working, you can never tell if it's a first read Gesicki has broken off, or a progression.
"He had a lot of routes in this game that were for 10 yards, and he'd cut them off," Casey says.
Third-and-nine from the Denver 35 after a Burrow sack and the Broncos are doing what they all do and load up with some pressure.
In the slot to Burrow's right between him and Higgins, neither Burrow nor Gesicki hesitate. Gesicki first runs at safety Brandon Jones, sees he's playing soft, and Burrow lets it go as Gesicki cuts underneath Jones and manages seven yards.
"The most impressive thing about Mike is how smart he is," Casey says. "Elite smarts. A vet who has made a lot of plays. He runs great routes … Right at the guy, then cuts, gets him to open his hips. He doesn't cut it off and let the guy get the angle on him."
And don't underestimate the seven yards.
"I love good check-downs," Casey says. "Not two or three. Seven and eight, I love those. It's all about getting first downs."
A manageable fourth-and-two from the Denver 28. Not a dangerous fourth-and-seven. Burrow flips it to Chase Brown for the first down. Two plays later the Bengals go ahead, 17-10, on the 12-yard lob to Higgins.
When the Bengals go into overtime, Burrow shows his trust right away.
On the first snap. He sees Gesicki, split out by himself to the right in a four-wide set, alone on 5-11 cornerback Daman Mathis. Burrow unleashes it quickly on what amounts to a high back-shoulder throw at the sticks in front of Mathis.
Displaying that range Casey says makes him so hard to cover, Gesicki launches himself against Mathis and snares it like a gymnast with all arms and legs.
"He's made some catches where I don't think too many other people can make that catch," Casey says.
On the next drive for what should have been the winning field goal, Burrow jump-starts it again to Gesicki on second-and-four at the Denver 48.
Joseph loads up with a six-man pressure. Gesicki, lined up tight in the slot, feels it as he runs one of those routes to the sidelines Casey calls "quick breakers." He runs at the safety Jones again, cut it off at the sticks, but he gets more than six. He pulls away from Jones' tackle and drags him for six more yards into field-goal range before saluting the crowd by flipping the ball into the air with arms raised.
It was his tenth catch of the night. Only Jermaine Gresham ten years ago and Rodney Holman at the dawn of the '90s had as many catches by a Bengals tight end in a game.
James Casey, who has two more postseason catches than Gesicki with four, would love to see Gesicki pass him.
"Tall Skinny," Casey says.
