The Cincinnati Bengals typically have shared the philosophy of trying to keep their own guys when it comes to free agency, but director of player personnel Duke Tobin didn’t want to disclose if that remains the case.
Even with a $30 million salary cap increase this year, there isn’t enough room to pay every player what they would want. The NFL Draft is a good way to fill holes without the big spend, and the Bengals gained some valuable intel on their prospects this week at the NFL Combine.
Not only did Bengals staff members, scouts and executives get a chance to watch workouts, they also were able to interview prospects to get to know them better on a somewhat personal level. Tobin particularly enjoys that aspect of the Combine.
“I like sitting and listening to guys express themselves and answer our questions and talk about where they came from and what makes them tick and why do they like football and how do they view themselves,” Tobin said Tuesday in a press conference at the Combine. “When you spend a lot of time researching them from afar and then you get them in front of you and they’re expressing themselves I enjoy that. It’s long, I mean it’s 20 minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes from seven o’clock to 11 o’clock and so it can be a grind, but I enjoy hearing the players express what they’re all about and why they feel they’re going to be a good football player and it’s fun.”
Tobin said the Bengals don’t rely on those interviews to understand the character of the players, but those are opportunities to confirm things they already think they know about them. Most of the research is done by the scouting department during the college season, and the interviews are a chance “to put a face with a name and a personality with a name,” Tobin said.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said hearing players tell their stories sometimes answers questions the coaches have about them. Up until about a month ago, he knew very little about the players the team scouts had been busy gathering information on, and this time of year is when the coaches get to dig into it more.
“To hear them tell their story sometimes … makes things a little bit clearer what can make them tick, and again, you don’t really ever want to ding the guys in these interviews,” Taylor said. “This is a bonus. They get a chance to put their best foot forward and our scouts have done a great job researching their backgrounds. But I’m excited to watch these guys go compete on the field and do all that stuff, go to the pro days and gather all of our information, so that we can make the best picks for the Bengals.”
The Bengals have the 18th pick in the draft, but Taylor said it’s not always expected the first-round pick will be able to come in and contribute right away. That is always the hope, but sometimes it depends on the position and the depth at that spot, and also some players just hit the ground running faster than others.
