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Q&A WITH CINCINNATI BENGALS DIRECTOR OF PLAYER PERSONNEL DUKE TOBIN

Interview with Cincinnati Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin

When you evaluate the whole Bengals roster, what are probably the biggest reasons why this team has been at the bottom of the division the last two seasons? Yeah, well, we've got some work to do to compete in our division for sure. We've got a good division. It's historically been a good division. We've had our share of competing in it, but we certainly haven't the last couple of years. Number one, we've got to find a way to stay healthy, and I know that is something that we don't get to control all the time, but it is something that reared its head over the course of the last couple of years. But when I look at our team, I'm excited. I think we've got one of the premier, best young quarterbacks in the game, and we're going to do everything we can to build around him and give him the opportunity to really shine and show what he can do. And so it's going to start with him. And, then beyond him, I think we've got a good receiving corps. I think we've got a young, exciting receiver. I think we've got a consistently proven veteran in Tyler Boyd. It'd be good -- it's going to be great to have Joe Mixon back in the lineup. You know, I think we've got a good tight end group that, you know, once it's healthy again, it's really every position was hit by the injury bug. So it'll be good to get a lot of these guys back. Defensively, it'll be great to see Trae Waynes on the field there. You know, we haven't gotten that yet. D.J. Reader coming back off of injury, that's something to build around. We really like our young linebacking core. I think it's really going to come into its own in the second year. I think we've got a great safety tandem, that I'm excited with, and we've got to fill in some spots, for sure. But I see a lot to get excited about. And it's number one, seeing the guys that didn't get to play much actually get on the field and produce at the level that we know that can produce.

When you went to Oregon to watch Justin Herbert, how much did Penei Sewell stand out? Well, you're always focused on that year's draft class. You observe things, but you want to spend your time on the thing that's right in front of you. And so the majority of my time was spent on the thing right in front of me. That was not only Justin but also the other seniors that Oregon had. And they had a few. So am I aware of him? Did I know who he was? The answer to both of those is yes. Did I do a deep dive into all of his strengths and weaknesses? Not at that time.

How receptive do you think you'll be to listening to offers to trade down from five? Well, I never say never to anything. It's something we're going to have to be ready for. Sometimes they happen a little earlier, but most of the time when an opportunity comes up, it's a real time opportunity and it's coming up when you're on the clock. So we'll go through all the different scenarios. We'll drill down on our player list and understand what exactly it means if we're going to move down five spots, 10 spots, 15 spots, exactly what we're going to be looking at that spot in the draft. And then what the compensation is. So there are two different things we look at. Are we getting compensation that we want? And are we getting a level of player that we feel good about passing up the current player that we would be selecting? We will go through that process. We do every year. And if opportunities come up, we'll be ready for it. And if it doesn't, we'll be ready to sit and pick and feel great about where we are.

How tough is it to get reliable information about guys that opted out? We’re still going through that. You can only get what’s available. We’ve got talented scouts with a lot of good resources in a lot of these schools. People that are doing things, they don’t want to keep it silent. They want to broadcast what they’re doing. We see video that’s being sent and posted from different workout facilities. But hopefully, we’ll be able to get in front of these players on Zoom meetings. Then we’ll also be able to see them in person at their schools. When you look at a guy you can tell what they’ve been doing. You can tell if they’ve been doing nothing, you can tell if they’ve been working hard. If they’re not playing, there’s nothing to evaluate and that’s just the way it is and everybody is in the same boat with those guys.

What’s been the most challenging part for you during the pandemic? Pretty much everything has changed. It’s just a constant adjustment. Our scouts have done a great job. We’ve been doing a lot just sitting at our desk. We are on Zoom calls with these schools, normally we’re in person and seeing these guys. It was great to go to the Senior Bowl and actually see these guys perform football live. I think we had a few live looks at games where we were in the stands – no contact with any of the staff or players. We started our Zoom calls with these players and really getting to know them. That’s good. I think we’re pretty well versed on how to Zoom with these guys and how to make quality time out of the time we get with them. That won’t be a huge change. I think we’ll get a real good feel for what the player is all about and what drives the player. Not seeing them in person leaves you a little concerned at this time of the year. But we’ll get to the pro days, get a view of them in person, get some confirmed measurables – that will be great. Then there’s a real heavy lift in getting all the medical information we need to make informed decisions on guys that we are going to be drafting. That’s a big piece of what’s going on. The NFL trainers’ association is doing a great job of trying to put that together.

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