Duke Tobin Sees Confidence in Bengals Roster, Believes in Young Players

Duke Tobin sees the confidence continuing to grow to new heights with the Bengals' current roster during training camp. Tobin appeared on The Tony And Mo Football Show on ESPN 1530 during the team's training camp practice inside Paycor Stadium and spoke about the confidence he has seen from the roster.

"I see confidence in our guys, one thing that I always look for is early confidence in what we're doing, how we're doing it, and belief in the group as a whole," Tobin said. "I see that out there on both sides of the ball, whether the ones are in there, the twos are in there, or the threes are in there, you can see a real attention to detail and motivation out of it."

Tobin also confirmed that the volume of versatility used for players such as Kyle Dugger and Dexter Lawrence has not resulted in any miscues on either side of the ball.

"My head spins when I sit in some meetings about the volume thats there, but the execution of the volume has been so good and it hasn't been sloppy in any way," Tobin said of the teams positional versatility volume. "We haven't had a bunch of false starts, misalignments, open gaps, drop coverages. With the volume we have in that'll play well over the season."

Duke Tobin Praises Leadership Additions on Defense

When the Bengals added players like Bryan Cook, Jonathan Allen, and Dexter Lawrence, it was clear they targeted players capable of leading a young locker room on defense.

Tobin emphasized the approach of adding talent that loves football enough and is capable of leading a team.

"You gotta get the guys about the right things, they have to love ball. Whether they're at the top of the league or just coming into the league, they have to love ball," Tobin said on the values he looks for in players. "If they don't, they can get complacent and one guy can turn into two guys can turn into 10 guys that get complacent, right now the leaders on this team are anything but complacent."

The Young Players Must Contribute Early

Tobin doubled down on his faith in linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. improving across the second-year of their respective careers.

"There is a huge jump between year one and year two, and when you bring two guys in and you throw them right into the fire, you're going to have some growing pains," Tobin spoke on the struggles at linebacker.

"Those two guys are much more comfortable in what we're doing, they're much more willing and able to direct. As those guys have progressed, they have really gained confidence in what they're doing and now their ability can show."

Tobin also shares the sentiment that the team's rookie class must make an impact immediately this season.

"We need our young guys to come on, it's just the way the NFL is now. You've gotta have your young guys come on and find roles early in their career and then take bigger roles the second year or third year," Tobin stated of his expectations for the teams rookies.

"It used to be where you could red-shirt guys and it's just not the way the NFL is anymore, you need those young guys to find real roles."

Tobin and the rest of the Bengals front office did a stellar job of adding talent to the Bengals roster this offseason. Now the expectations are for Zac Taylor and the coaching staff to continue getting the best out of the current roster and compete for a Super Bowl this season.

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