Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert caught five of the six passes thrown in his direction for 53 yards in his team's 31-10 win over the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night. That stat line alone is pretty decent. This is until we realize Eifert caught three touchdown passes from Andy Dalton. 

Those three touchdowns put Eifert alone in Bengals franchise history with nine touchdowns from the tight end position in a single season. They also represent somewhat of a coming-out party for the former first-round pick. 

Through eight games, Eifert has put up 37 receptions for 434 yards and those nine scores — numbers that would nearly double his previous career high in each category. 

With a full slate of Week 9 games remaining, Eifert's performance from Thursday (25.80 fantasy points) is the best on the season from the tight end position. This has him entrenched in as the third-ranked fantasy tight end on the season barring a similar performance from those currently below him in the rankings. 

Based on what we saw in Cincinnati's 21-point win on Thursday, Eifert is quickly joining A.J. Green as Dalton's favorite target in the passing game. That in and of itself has him with an extremely high ceiling moving forward this season.