OT: Bengals OT Jake Fisher moving to TE
I just came across this news on Twitter, which I found to be interesting. Michigan recruited Traverse City offensive tackle Jake Fisher in the 2011 class, even getting him to commit for a while, before he ultimately went to Oregon. Greg Frey was going to make him an offensive tackle before the Rich Rodriguez staff was canned. He's been a backup for the Bengals at offensive tackle.
This year the Bengals are having him lose weight, so he's gone from 300 lbs. to 268 lbs., and they're going to have him play tight end this season.
It's not often you see offensive linemen switching to non-offensive line positions, especially when they're four-year veterans in the league.
Maybe I can lose 32 lbs and get my weight down to waterboy-level.
As a Bengals fan I find this a bit surprising. They need Tackles more than Tight Ends.
They drafted Drew Sample in the 2nd round. They also resigned CJ Uzomah. Tyler Eiffert was resigned as well, but I guess his injury history is a red flag. They have have another Tight End or two as well.
Im curious how much Zac Taylor is going to use the Tight Ends in his offense.
Either way it is refreshing to have a new coach in Cincy.
I would bet that they will deploy him as a blocking first, pass-catcher second TE similar to how the Hoke regime used AJ Williams.
For a Bengals fan, its surprising that you didn't realize he is not on your team anymore.....he signed with the Bills, where he is going to play TE.
Good call thanks for pointing this out. I didn’t realize this and obviously this thread makes it seem he is still with the Bengals. The fact I didn’t know, means either he is irrelevant, or I don’t pay attention enough to every off season move the team I root for makes.
Yeah, that's my bad. I'm sorry.
Yeah, that's no excuse for a mistake this catastrophic.
Shame...shame...shame...
Is this a good or bad thing? Does this mean he is so bad, they won't even attempt to try him at guard?
When you're 300 pounds its easier to lose weight than gain weight, so tight end is a better fit.
I bet all 300 lbers don't feel that way.
Did anyone else originally get him mixed up with former number one pick Eric Fisher when they saw the headline, or was that just me?
Did the same thing.
Got me too.
The Bengals are an Ohio team and favorite NFL team of many buckeye fans.
FUCK them!
Most Osu fans are Browns fans. Yes there are some who like Cincy, but the majority of Bengals fans are actually Kentucky or UC fans. ALOT of people in Cincy hate Osu and find their fans highly annoying and arrogant. I’m sure Cincy natives on MGoblog know what I’m talking about.
Cincy resident here! Have always hated OSU with a passion and can say there are quite a few others here who hate them as well. Lots of UC, Kentucky, Xavier (bball obviously) fans here... OSU fans for sure as well... but a lot of people that hate them too. Being a life-long Michigan fan, I can say that it's much easier to be a Michigan fan here than where I grew up about an hour north of here! Thank God for Cooper at OSU or my childhood would have been rough.
Poor damn John Cooper. Even Google has forgotten he exists. (Searching for "John Cooper" without any additional context gave me a bunch of results for "Jon Cooper.")
As a Cincy resident, I concur with your statements Eli.
I also happen to be a Browns fan. I've just accepted that I'll never live anywhere that I don't get shit for my sport allegiances. Even at our HQ in Troy there's more Spartans (barf) than anything.
That is interesting. I would have assumed that Cincy would still be majority OSU fans considering they basically own that area when it comes to football recruiting.
Surprisingly enough, high school football reigns King in Cincinnati usually. As Eli pointed out, there are a lot of college basketball fans here as well. Xavier, UC, UK, Louisville all have pockets of fans. I just don't think college football take precedent because most people here are too proud to ever root for OSU.
Grew up in Cincinnati and concur with the other posters that the loyalties are relatively spread out in the area.
There are plenty of Buckeye "fans" because it is convenient to bandwagon, but for a lot of them it might be a secondary loyalty with XU/UC/UK (and even some IU) basketball first or something along those lines.
I never came across a lot of specific OSU hate in the area, but definitely less outright love than in the rest of the state.
Some consider OSU to be a professional team.
I assume this means he's going to be playing in Canada next year.
From the article you posted:
It was Fisher's idea to play TE.
He was a free agent this off season and signed on with the Buffalo Bills as a TE.
You are correct. Apologize for the mistake up above.
Apparently the Bengals are also moving him to Buffalo, but still as a TE.
Sounds like an AJ Williams role.
O/U 10.5 catches?
Cincinnati has a pro football team? Jk..I'm a Lions fan and that's even worse.
The Bengals aren't having him lose weight. He was a free agent, which is why he thought this would be a good time in his career to make the switch. Now he's signed with Buffalo.
Apparently he just really wanted to play TE. Didn't like carrying the extra weight at tackle. He was a solid backup tackle so he's taking less money this year in the hope that he can prove himself at the new position. He actually had to fire his agents because they didn't want him to make the switch.
Interesting indeed.
NFL combine - 6'6" / 306lbs ... ran the second fastest OL 40 at 5.01 and best OL shuttle at 4.33. Interesting switch - would like to see his 40 time at 265lbs and his catching skills. Could be a great NFL caliber TE prospect, especially in the Bill's offense.
EDIT - he made $4.3MM with the Bengals over his 4 year rookie contract as the 53rd selected player overall in the 2015 draft. His Bills contract is for one year and $850K, of which only $45k is guaranteed so this is basically a "try-out" contract. He is taking a big pay hit and risk to switch positions. No wonder his agent got pissed and walked (or was fired).
one wonders though what the chances are of him being successful here. He's obviously got NFL-caliber athleticism in genreal or he wouldn't have made it to the league at all, but it feels like you'd have to be a freak athlete to make this work - the top performers in the last few years at TE in the combine have 4.5ish speed in the 40, 4.1-4.2 in the shuttle, and have been working at the position for years. Granted he put up his combine numbers at OL size, but this seems a desperation heave at best. Maybe it'll work out, but it'd be fairly miraculous.
I wouldn't say desperation heave necessarily. He's completed one contract with the Bengals for decent though not necessarily fuck-you money (really depends how he invested and the kind of spender he is) and perhaps he just didn't like the punishment his body was taking as an OL and at what is generally considered an unhealthy weight. To maintain that kind of size you have to eat an insane amount of calories, especially if you aren't just naturally gargantuan as some guys are.
Joe Thomas similarly lost a bunch of weight after retiring. Maybe this is his way of saying "I like playing football, but I'm not willing to do so at this size anymore. If I can make it at another position at a healthier weight for me, I'll keep going. Otherwise, I've got plenty of coin for only a few years of service. In which case, peace out."
Or some similar though perhaps less wordy quip.
"for decent though not necessarily fuck-you money"
I don't know about everybody else, but if I had made $4.3 million over the past four years I'd be saying "fuck you" to a lot of things.
Nice to see two Michigan guys (Riemersma, Seymour) mentioned as outliers. Hopefully Gentry can join them.
That's kind of an interesting move - I can only think of a handful of times where someone on the OL was tried out elsewhere in the offense at the pro level, much less at the collegiate level. It seems like it is far more common for offensive linemen to be tried out on the defensive line if they switch at all.
The Bengals actually used him as a tackle-eligible receiver in the redzone and threw to him out of play-action. In the clips I recall he looked decent, like a true TE versus some beefy OT they were trying to fake it with.
Wish I could lose 30lbs that fast.
and by bengals you mean bills
Watched him play a couple games in high school at TE he was a man amongst boys, been a few years but had speed and good hands, I hope it works out. Our family had wonderful experiences at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Ronald McDonald House in Buffalo, it has become a second home for us so we’ve become Bills fans so good luck Mr. Jake Fisher you’ll love the town and the fans! Especially the BillsMafia!!
This isn't a switch to a "non-offensive line" position. The post is inaccurate. It must be removed from the sacred canon.