How are Bengals planning to approach this important offseason? A Q&A with Duke Tobin
Editor's note: Enquirer beat reporter Kelsey Conway and Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson talked with Duke Tobin, Bengals director of player personnel, on Tuesday at the Senior Bowl. The following question-and-answer transcript is from that conversation.
MOBILE, Ala. — The first stage of the NFL’s pre-draft process is underway as executives, scouts and coaches from all 32 NFL teams gathered to watch the some of the best prospects compete in person.
As they do each year, the Bengals have a strong presence at this event. The Bengals own the No. 18 pick in the NFL draft this year. Director of personnel Duke Tobin and his staff are all in attendance, as is executive vice president Katie Blackburn. This week, the nation’s top draft prospects will practice each day and meet with teams at night as part of their thorough evaluation process.
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Tobin addressed a number of topics about his team in a Q&A from the event. Here's the conversation:
Enquirer: How did you feel about how the season went?
Tobin: Well, obviously disappointed. We fully expect to be there at the end and give ourselves a chance. We had some good moments and then we didn’t get enough done within the division. When you don’t do that, it makes it very difficult to make the playoffs.
Enquirer: Can you speak on the slow starts in the AFC North?
Tobin: Joe was not himself, we were completely a different team because we were trying to make it work without any mobility really, to his credit, he battled through it. It was a few games before he started feeling like himself. We’re not designing slow starts by any means, we’re trying to get out quick. I think we faced some pretty good teams in the early part of the year.
Enquirer: What is your focus here at the Senior Bowl?
Tobin: There hasn’t been a year that we don’t want to continue to develop both line of scrimmages. That’s all 32 teams. That’s where the game is won and lost. There’s great players on every team (at) skill positions, and you need them, you need guys that can make plays at big moments and want the ball in their hands but the game is won and lost on the line of scrimmage. Everybody is down here at the Senior Bowl, focused on the line of the scrimmage. That’s the nature of the NFL. You have to be good up front.
Enquirer: What is Jonah Williams' future with the Bengals?
Tobin: Jonah I thought played well made a position switch, gave us a full season. It was impressive. He showed that he’s versatile which will play well for him over time. I don’t know what the future holds. We’ll see. We’ve got this pie, whether there’s a big enough piece of pie for him or he’s going to get a bigger piece of pie somewhere else, we’ll see. It’s hard to predict right now exactly what other teams are going to do and their interest level in any of our free agents. We’re proud of Jonah for the way he played.
Enquirer: Do you feel like you need to address depth at center with Ted Karras’ contract up after next season?
Tobin: We’ll see. We believe in Ted. Ted is a pretty damn good cog in what we do. He’s a leader for us. He’s been durable. We think we’ve got some young guys that can play, we’ll see if they continue their development. We’re not going to force a pick at any of those positions just because we feel like someone is getting towards the end of their career. We think Ted has some gas left in the tank and thought he played pretty darn well this year. He’s an importance piece of what we do.
Enquirer: What is the future of DJ Reader in Cincinnati?
Tobin: DJ’s been great for us. He’s the defensive Ted Karras. He brings other people along with him. He makes people believe; he holds people accountable. He’s a great leader for us and he’s been a really good player for us. It’s a shame he got hurt again, I know he’s going to attack that rehab and we think he’ll be back and we think he’ll be just as good. In terms of financially, what the dollars are and what we’re able to pay, that’s all to be determined. Do we want him back, yeah. He’s a good player for us, we want all of our good players back and he’s not at the end of his career. We’ll see what happens as we go. But he has been and could be a very important part of our team going forward.
Enquirer: What can you do to get more from Joseph Ossai?
Tobin: He’s got to maintain his health, that’s one thing. He was Bruce Smith until he got hurt in his first preseason game. I think he’s starting to blossom; we’ll see. The more opportunity that is forced on him, I think the more production we’ll get, we’ll see how he does. He’s got the traits that you want, he’s got the speed, he’s got the athleticism, I think he wants to be good. So we’ll continue to work with him. I think he’s a good piece to have on our team. Whether he can elevate himself up to star status, we’ll see.
Enquirer: Do you feel like Sam Hubbard still has plenty of good football in front of him?
Tobin: I view Sam as one of the best run stopping defensive ends in the league. I think late in the season he was just a warrior and played through things that most human beings wouldn’t play through and provide us the opportunity to go out there and have a chance to win. That’s what Sam Hubbard is all about. Sam Hubbard was never close to 100 percent late in the season, he was working through things for the team. After he’s had the offseason surgery, I think he’ll feel a lot better and more stable and will revert back to the old Sam Hubbard where you can count on him down in and out to be that. He was a real warrior this year.
Enquirer: Do you feel like Dax Hill still has a future at safety and what were your thoughts on his season?
Tobin: I can speak to the player and the talent and the player is a rare athlete and a rare talent. He’s got great speed, he’s courageous in the run game. He can close on the football and I think the more he sees it, the better he’ll get. I feel great about having him. I thin he’s a guy that can play multiple roles, but I don’t think we want to make him a jack of all, master of none. We’re going to have to decide from a coaching standpoint exactly what we want out of him and we’re going to make him a great player at that position. I’m not down on Dax at all, I think he’s a rare talent and goes about it the right way.
Enquirer: How important are draft picks with a mega quarterback contract?
Tobin: You have to hit on your draft picks. That’s what makes a good football team year in and out. You can’t buy yourself a good football team every year, there’s not enough money to do it.
Enquirer: Are you planning to place the franchise tag on Tee Higgins?
Tobin: I don’t think I’m going to be breaking any news today. Last year, Tee Higgins was under contract to us. He was a guy that we drafted for that reason, to be a contributor for us. He’s not under contract now so we’re going to have to work through how to do that and if it’s possible and we’ll have to go through the gymnastics of that. So it’s a different scenario than it was last year. Trading a high-level player that’s under contract just because the future might demand it, that’s never really on my mind. We’ll see what happens this year. I want Tee Higgins back. Everyone on our team would like to have Tee Higgins back. Again, there’s one pie and how big of a slice that takes and what else we can’t do because of it, we’ll have to determine, and we’ll see.
Enquirer: Do you think you’ll reach a long-term extension with wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase this offseason?
Tobin: We’ll see. He’s eligible for one, sometimes those happen and sometimes they don’t. It could. We like Ja’Marr. He’s in our long-term plans. He’s shown that he is a high-level player in this league.
Enquirer: How are the tight ends in this year's draft class and what are the plans at the position?
Tobin: The draft didn't fall to us where there was one we wanted at the time we were picking (last year). We liked a lot of the guys. It didn't happen. We'll see what happens this year. I think we've got some guys that played for us last year that showed they have a future with the Bengals and we'll see if we can get them back and then we'll try to supplement it.
Enquirer: How did you feel like Joe Burrow played when healthy?
Tobin: I think he can process faster than almost any quarterback and I think he can run a lot of different things very, very effectively. He's the type of quarterback you can put in almost anyone's offense and he's going to run it effectively. There are not a lot of guys like that. When he has everything at his disposal, it's pretty damn tough.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bengals roster discussion with Duke Tobin at Senior Bowl
