CINCINNATI — Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin is quick to point out his job is never really done. He is always on the lookout.
Change has marked seemingly every day this offseason around these parts, but there is a settling in that’s unfolded as the conclusion of OTAs and minicamp mark the monthlong slow spin of the otherwise relentless NFL news cycle.
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Tobin is fresh off traveling to Marco Island, Fla., with his staff for the annual college player combine along with the 20 other teams that work with National Football Scouting to set the table for the 2020 draft. Not a bad trip considering the typically solitary travels of the scouting world.
“Scouting isn’t all bad all the time,” Tobin said with a laugh.
No, and when looking at his team, there’s plenty that isn’t bad as the healing continues from the decimation of his roster in 2019. I spoke for a bit with Tobin as OTAs came to a close this week about a range of topics. While there’s not a ton of headline grabbers at this point, I plucked out six of the more interesting comments here.
Tobin on the chase of DL Gerald McCoy, who signed with Carolina:
“Free agency is always a two-way street and guys have multiple options. There are times we express interest and if the interest is reciprocated we try to make something work. The things that don’t happen, there’s more than just that one. There’s a lot of things you go through the exercise and they don’t come about. Sometimes they do. I won’t get real specific on guys that aren’t here or don’t come. He apparently had plenty of suitors and options and took his time and I guess made the decision that was right for him.”
MY THOUGHT: You can’t make a guy want to come play for you. The Bengals were far down McCoy’s list. At least he didn’t end up in the AFC North.
Tobin on whether he would add more people to his scouting staff this year:
“It’s always a work in progress. I never say never on that but I am comfortable the way that it is. There aren’t any definite plans. But you never know what will go on here the next few months. I’m definitely comfortable with the group and how it functions and how it works.”
MY THOUGHT: Tobin’s told me this line often; he doesn’t need more voices he needs the right voices. He has added to the lower levels of his group in recent years, but sounds like that won’t happen this year.
Tobin on whether he did enough to fix linebacker room:
“We’ve struggled to stay healthy there in that position group. If we can stay up and running we think we’ve got guys that have some traits that can be effective football players. The whole defense has to come together and play as a unit. We feel good about the individuals we have at the position group. We’ll see how they come along and what the ultimate alignment is. That group will be to-be-determined. It will be up to Lou (Anarumo) and Zac (Taylor) and his staff to put that together.”
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MY THOUGHT: Nickel, for now, will be Preston Brown and Nick Vigil, who both were hurt the majority of last season. Bengals are banking on health proving they can play at a level higher than they did.
Tobin on Germaine Pratt and whether he could be the answer and be ready to play as a rookie:
“Well, we’ll find out. We’ll find out. What we are doing now in that position group especially, it’s hard to find answers for sure.”
MY THOUGHT: Pratt will be given every opportunity to show he can be the guy. They need him to be in a hurry.
On reference by Tyler Eifert to The Athletic that John Ross was looking “unstoppable” in OTA practice:
“John hasn’t failed to impress in this type of stuff. He’s just got to carry it to the games and we’ll see if he can — health is a big thing with him, those things are hard to predict. You want him to be up and healthy and knowing what to do. He’s certainly got the physical traits to be effective for us. Let’s see how it goes.”
MY THOUGHT: John Ross didn’t participate in Tuesday’s practice and spent part of it on a stationary bike. The health question will always be part of his equation.
On how Zac Taylor has run the offseason program:
“Overall, I’ve been really impressed with his organization level, his communication level, his ideas, his thoughts, how he structures practice, how the players respond to him and his coaches. I’ve been really impressed. It’s been what we hoped for, for sure.”
MY THOUGHT: Organization and communication are the two words I hear most about Taylor.
On tap
The last of OTAs is going down this week. The Bengals held their third OTA practice open to the media Tuesday and one of four this week.
Next week will be the biggest of the offseason practice calendar as the Bengals will go through their three-day mandatory minicamp. That will mean three days of open practices and a small taste of what is to come from training camp when the team reports in late July.
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A few quick thoughts from Tuesday.
1. Jessie Bates showed off the instincts that powered his quality rookie season, stepping in front of Tyler Boyd for an interception of Andy Dalton. Have to like the direction he’s headed.
2. Alex Erickson continues to make plays and break open. He was making plays all over, particularly in the red zone, during Tuesday’s practice.
3. Ryan Finley looks bad. There’s just no way around it. Two ugly passes Tuesday that should have been intercepted by seventh-round pick CB Jordan Brown. It’s still early, but not so early that we can’t begin to wonder what the hell is going on.
4. Sam Hubbard had more than a few nice moves beating rookie left tackle Jonah Williams. That’s both good and bad, but part of the learning process for Williams.
5. Taylor put a bunch of extra competition with a point system keeping score during the situational drills on Tuesday and it clearly brought extra life to the end of practice. Easily manufactured juice for an otherwise mundane OTA.
Quotable
“I don’t think I’ll be watching the Bengals. The players there are near and dear to my heart but that’s it.” — Marvin Lewis on the Adam Schefter podcast
There’s a bunch of true colors shining through in this comment and the entire podcast if you want to listen to the whole thing and give yourself flashbacks. This was Lewis’ first notable interview since landing with Arizona State in support of Herm Edwards. To spend 16 years in Cincinnati and considering all the loyalty shown to him by the Brown family while not providing a playoff victory, to go without even so much as a hint of respect toward the organization is weak and petty.
Twitter question(s) of the week
Caught a few good ones this week. I’ll dive into a couple.
Which rookie RB are you excited more for Williams or Anderson?
— Greg Luther (@greger09) June 3, 2019
First, I always want to answer the question of somebody whose avatar is a picture was taken at our live podcast at 50 West after the draft. Plus, Greg won the draft hat at the 2017 live pod with Duke Tobin. Strong.
As for Rodney Anderson and Trayveon Williams, you have to side with Williams if we’re talking about this year. Anderson likely begins the year on PUP. He’s still recovering from the knee injury that ended his junior season prematurely. He’s just been taking mental reps from behind the plays during OTAs. No significant side field rehab work to the level we’ve seen from some of the more healthy players.
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Williams will make for a strong third RB option behind Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard. He is familiar with the system and his running style thrived in it last year. Taylor has talked about keeping all these backs healthy so my gut says we see him more than you saw Walton last year, but we’ll see how much he earns for himself by how he shows in preseason games.
Prediticted starting oline
— Samuel Keathley (@SamuelKeathley) June 3, 2019
Thanks for the question, Sam.
Hard to not predict the one they trotted out as Option 1A at the start of OTAs. Barring injury or Cordy Glenn struggling mightily in the adjustment to guard (which I don’t see happening), it will look like this: LT Jonah Williams, LG Cordy Glenn, C Billy Price, RG John Miller, RT Bobby Hart.
I’ll say the same line I say every time somebody asks me about this. That line right there is a realistically expected improvement at four of the five positions. That means something.
Why are people so mad this week?
@pauldehnerjr any confirmation on Bengals throwbacks for #NFL100?
— Luke Southerington (@Luke_South) June 2, 2019
Ah, yes, throwbacks. Everyone’s favorite topic to yell about. Shout out to my cousin Luke here for keeping it calm, but this is often one that gets people raging against the machine.
Unfortunately, I have bad news. There will be no Bengals throwbacks in honor of the 100th season or in honor of anything. It will be the standard three uniforms we’ve seen with the black, white and orange jerseys featured.
Good news is the Reds are doing enough throwback uniforms this year to cover the entire state’s jersey-spending habits.
Overly researched stat of the week
Is it reasonable to think the @Bengals will have three 1000 yard receivers, or am I drinking too much orange kool-aid?
— Gloria (@stlkiss) June 3, 2019
Gloria, I would suggest your orange Kool-Aid is spiked with Ketel One. In fact, there have only been five instances in NFL history when a team featured three players with 1,000 receiving yards.
The last one came in 2008 with Kurt Warner chucking it for the Arizona Cardinals. So, despite all the passing records being shattered since the rule changes in 2011, this has not happened during that span. That’s all you need to know for how unlikely it is.
Here’s the complete list:
- 1980 San Diego: TE Kellen Winslow, WR John Jefferson, WR Charlie Joiner
- 1989 Washington: WR Art Monk, WR Ricky Sanders, WR Gary Clark
- 1995 Atlanta: RB/WR Eric Metcalf, WR Terance Mathis, WR Bert Emanuel
- 2004 Indianapolis: WR Marvin Harrison, WR Reggie Wayne, WR Brandon Stokely
- 2008 Arizona: WR Larry Fitzgerald, WR Anquan Boldin, WR Steve Breaston
We’ve seen a few pull off the feat of having three players with at least 900 yards this decade, but all featured a tight end. New England did it twice with Rob Gronkowski. Atlanta pulled it off in 2012 with Julio Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez. Jimmy Graham got into the act with New Orleans’ Lance Moore and Marques Colston in 2012.
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The way the Bengals are expected to use their trio of tight ends, it’s difficult to see any individual approach the 900-yard range. Let me tell you this, though, if A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd both top 1,000 yards and you merely get the same red zone production you saw from the tight ends (when healthy) and Ross last year, this offense will be a force.
Degenerate corner
The odds to win the AFC North continue to climb for the Bengals. They’ve gone so far sideways in this division I think they have become one of the best values in the NFL.
Here were the divisional odds March 13:
Here are the latest odds out (all via sportsbettingdime.com):
- Browns: +130
- Steelers: +190
- Ravens: +290
- Bengals: +2,000
There’s no way you can sell me on this team’s chances dropping by a 12/1 difference based on their offseason. They weren’t splashy and, no, they shouldn’t be in the conversation to win the division right now. But if you are putting 20/1 out there for value I’d be extremely interested.
Around the division
Browns: Offensive lineman Joel Bitonio looks back at the quality they had on the offensive line when he first came into the league and marvels. They rarely won because they didn’t have a franchise QB. They now have a franchise QB, and the biggest question is their offensive line. Interesting how that works. Tom Reed dives in.
Steelers: Pittsburgh is intrigued by MAC linebacker Sutton Smith to the point they are giving him a shot to play some running back, too. Mark Kaboly on this rare move.
Ravens: Justin Tucker is a beast and has destroyed the Bengals, including hitting 8 of 10 from 50-plus yards. They found him as an undrafted free agent and the story of how is fascinating as Jeff Zrebiec takes a peek.
Bengals post of the week
You know you have made some coin for your agent when he shows up at your football camp with his daughter and they both hop in line and start doing pushups. Then when it gets posted to social media, you get your shot in. Shout out to all the work Carlos Dunlap puts into what’s been a successful football and cheer camp in his hometown in Charleston, S.C., but also for getting his digs in on his famous agent Drew Rosenhaus.
Her form was better then yours bud 😹 https://t.co/weH1WBkyY9
— Carlos Dunlap (@Carlos_Dunlap) June 2, 2019
Must read
We had a fun subscriber Q&A with Tyler Eifert last week. Eifert deserves double-respect points considering practice times were altered due to weather and our originally scheduled time of 2:15 p.m. meant he had to stick around an hour later than necessary during the final day of his workweek. He did because he’s a good guy. Hopefully, that karma helps him stay healthy this year. I think you’ll enjoy going through his answers, though, this one still sticks out to me.
Huge thanks to @tylereifert for joining our live Q&A. You can read the entire archive now if you are a subscriber to @TheAthletic. A ton of great exchanges. I’ll say this one tops the list for me. pic.twitter.com/a3KQS2LMQO
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) May 30, 2019
Dad life
As any parent will tell you, having little ones brings out a reminder of how great specific things are that you take for granted. This week’s edition: yelling “Charge!” at a baseball game. Few musical arrangements in sports guarantee any fan will do anything anymore, but Charge! stands the test of time. My 2-year-old spent a game last week yelling “Charge!” and clapping whenever the fans did. Is there a more gratifying thing to yell in unison with other fans at any sporting event?
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Maybe the “Hear That Bengal Growlin’” in the case of this club. It certainly tops yelling “First Down,” as many teams do. If you have suggestions for what tops “Charge!” I’d love to hear them.
Wrapping it up
All this talk about the league attempting to come up with special rules for the Hail Mary to make it exempt from PI challenges (which it should be) has me thinking about A.J. Green against the Browns in 2014. The best part is the commentators talking about the botched timeouts and time management prior. Sometimes we forget the Hail Mary Offense was essentially the two-minute strategy for about a two-year period around here.
(Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)
