CINCINNATI -- Before turning our full attention to free agency, the draft and the 2015 season, let's take one last look back at 2014.

We're doing that all this week through this position-by-position review of the Cincinnati Bengals' recent 10-5-1 campaign that ended with a wild-card round loss at Indianapolis.

Previous entries in the series. Now we continue with tight ends:

2014 cap value: $8.2 million total -- Jermaine Gresham ($4.8 million), Tyler Eifert ($1.9 million), Alex Smith ($635,525), Kevin Brock ($436,765), Ryan Hewitt ($423,333)

Highlights: Perhaps the most memorable highlight for the Bengals' tight ends came in Week 11 at New Orleans when Gresham unwittingly triggered a chain of events that gave a trio of fans attending the game 15 seconds of fame. After a 1-yard touchdown reception, Gresham tossed a football to a pair of female Bengals fans in the lower level of the Superdome, but the celebration pass was intercepted by a male Saints fan sitting in the first row. When that's the moment you start with, you know it wasn't a great year overall for a position group.

Gresham had some solid production in certain games. He had 10 catches in a shutout loss to the Colts, nine in a win against Denver and five or more in three other games. Additionally, the rookie Hewitt was a catalyst to some of the Bengals' best runs thanks to his blocking ability as the team's H-back.

Lowlights: Among low moments were the multiple times in the first four games when Gresham spaced out and didn't finish off routes. The most glaring instance of that was in the season opener when he completely stopped around the goal line as quarterback Andy Dalton attempted to lead him into a wide-open, would-be touchdown pass. Instead, the ball fell incomplete. There also was the issue of Gresham declaring himself inactive ahead of two meaningful late-season games because of injuries despite testing them before both games and looking like he might be able to gut them out. That caused some, including former Bengal and team radio analyst Dave Lapham, to publicly question his desire.

Eifert's season-ending elbow dislocation eight snaps into the opener also was a major lowlight.

Play of the year: When putting together their montage of best blocks, the Bengals' film department probably found several of Hewitt's hard hits. The lane-opening block he had that sticks out the most was the hit he put on a Jaguars linebacker near the end of the Bengals' Week 9 win. Dalton had just thrown an interception that resulted in a Jaguars touchdown that made it a three-point game with eight minutes left. On the first play of the ensuing Bengals drive, Hewitt stepped up and pushed back his linebacker as fellow rookie Jeremy Hill sprinted through the open hole. From there, Hill put a move on a corner and broke his tackle to cap a 60-yard touchdown run that iced the game.

Necessary improvements: The Bengals this offseason must ask themselves a few philosophical questions about the tight end position. Namely, they have to concern themselves over whether Gresham belongs back. Of course, he also has to figure out if he wants to be back. Additionally, the Bengals have to think about whether they want to keep the two-tight end setup they had hoped to use before Eifert's injury. They also must ask themselves if Gresham's potential replacement will be a pass-catcher like him or more of a blocker like Hewitt. They also will have concerns about Eifert, who has yet to finish a season in his career. Can he stay healthy for 17-22 weeks this year? Before the Bengals can improve at tight end, they have to figure all of this out.