Tight end Utecht might fill hole that McGee left

By acquiring tight end (and some would say wide receiver) Ben Utecht, the Cincinnati Bengals might have filled a need that has been glaringly open since the departure of Tony McGee.

Hold on for a second--before some of you ask, "who is Tony McGee?" I shall show you that the former 1993 second-round pick was the last productive tight end the Bengals have had.

McGee, who played in Cincinnati from 1993-2001 and Dallas in 2002 before retiring after the 2003 season, was a mainstay on the Bengals' offense, starting 150 out of a possible 152 games.

Although McGee's career numbers don't jump out as much as Tony Gonzalez's or Antonio Gates', take into consideration that he played during a era with less pass interference penalties, his quarterbacks were David Klingler, Jeff Blaker, Akili Smith, Neil O'Donnell and Jon Kitna and that the Bengals were arguably the worst team in professional sports in the 1990s.

With that said, adding Utecht, who can do damage coming off the tackle or in the slot, should be able to boost Carson Palmer's production even further, assuming that TJ Housmanzadeh and Chad Johnson quit singing their swan songs and that Chris Henry can stay away from the county jail.

Tony McGee image found at http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/334188.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193B3EA2C03450C9486D47859FB25F3D72E284831B75F48EF45

Ben Utecht image found at http://www.nflhs.com/images/PlayerPics/BenUtecht2007-200.jpg