LOS ANGELES — The upstart Bengals are playing in Super Bowl 56 after being a No. 4 seed in the AFC playoffs. That makes it difficult to believe that just two years ago, they were coming off a 2-14 season as the team with the worst record in the NFL.
But since getting the top selection in the 2020 NFL Draft in conjunction with Joe Burrow's meteoric rise as a transcendent quarterback prospect, they have put in motion an incredible rebuilding plan and gotten improbable championship results.
A key person behind that plan is Duke Tobin, the Bengals' director of player personnel. Tobin is the 2021 Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year based on voting by his front-office peers around the league.
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"When you're going to be a bad team, it's nice to have timing about it. When you're at No. 1 overall, the universe is pretty defined for you," Tobin told Sporting News in LA in accepting his award ahead of the Super Bowl. "When we dived in, very early in the process we knew we got something, we got our direction."
The fortune of landing Burrow aside, Tobin and the rest of Cincinnati's scouting staff did a tremendous job replenishing the roster after the end of the rather successful Andy Dalton-A.J. Green era. They provided coach Zac Taylor with the right pieces around Burrow. They also made plenty of shrewd moves to improve the defense, spending well on veteran free agents.
"Free agency is hard. You never know when they're going to say yes. You don't know if they're going to re-sign with their team before free agency starts," Tobin said. "You need to have all these designs in your head of what you want to do."
From early in 2020 through the 2021 offseason, here's what Tobin and Bengals did to reload:
1. Overhauled the offensive line
Contrary to popular belief, and even though Burrow was sacked a league-high 51 sacks this season, the Bengals have worked to upgrade their front five and make it more reliable and consistent.
Their 2019 first-round pick, Jonah Williams, debuted last season after missing his rookie year with an injury. That allowed the team to dump former Bills tackle Cordy Glenn. In 2020, the Bengals signed one starting guard, former Bill and Titan Quinton Spain, and drafted another, sixth-round steal Hakeem Adeniji.
They signed former Lion and Viking Riley Reiff this year to shore up right tackle, which he did for 12 games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. The Bengals also traded first-round bust Billy Price at the end of 2021 training camp after Trey Hopkins proved to be a better fit at center. They also have a future starter in rookie second-round guard Jackson Carman.
The Bengals are still struggling in pass protection, but they are a strong run-blocking team. You can bet they're not done in making upgrades in front of Burrow, but they've done more to shore up the unit than one thinks.
2. Remixed the secondary
The Bengals have a star young safety in Jessie Bates III. He's the only the starter/key player left from the team's 2019 defensive backfield.
The changes began in 2020 when Cincinnati signed Bates' safety mate, former Saint Vonn Bell. They also added former Vikings star corner Trae Waynes, who has been hampered by pectoral and hamstring injuries the past two seasons.
In 2021, the Bengals again splurged at corner, with former Cowboy Chidobe Awuzie for the outside and former Steeler Mike Hilton for the slot. They also took a flier on former Saint Eli Apple, a first-rounder of the Giants in 2016. They made a key depth move at midseason by signing former Seahawk Tre Flowers.
With the exception of Waynes' durability issues, the rest of the group has combined well to make plays and limit big plays in coverage. They've shown chemistry playing together from base sets through sub packages.
3. Beefed up the defensive line
The first big new piece was run-stuffing defensive tackle D.J. Reader, a great signing from the Texans in 2020. The Bengals had already found a gem at end in 2018 second-rounder Sam Hubbard.
Reader and Hubbard needed strong complements inside and out as the team turned the page on former stalwarts such as Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap. That also was addressed in free agency last offseason. Former Brown Larry Ogunjobi came in to complement Reader as an inside pass rusher. Hubbard got the ultimate bookend in former Saint Trey Hendrickson, a massive free agency win given his breakout season as a pass-rusher.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, Ogunjobi has been lost for the playoffs with a foot injury. Fortunately for them, the Price trade got the team B.J. Hill, who has filled in well, including a game-changing interception of Patrick Mahomes in the AFC championship game.
4. Armed Burrow with weapons
The Bengals realized they needed to move on from Green at wide receiver and knew they had one reliable target for Burrow in slot man Tyler Boyd going into 2020. They also had locked up tight end C.J. Uzomah with the intention of giving him a bigger pass-catching role.
Green was brought back for one final year, but the Bengals started the true transition with the wise decision to draft Higgins in the second round behind Burrow. Given how well Higgins looked as a potential No. 1 to replace Green, it was thought the Bengals would lock into offensive tackle vs. wide receiver early in the 2021 draft.
That was before Chase, who opted out of his final season at LSU after winning a national championship there with Burrow, became appealing at No. 5 overall because of his explosive skills. Tobin and the Bengals were focused on getting the most talented player possible at that spot and Chase became a no-brainer.
"Even Ja'Marr without Joe was the right pick in his own right," Tobin said. "Ja'Marr was worthy of the pick no matter who we had. It just made it sweeter that the guys would come in with a rapport and understand each other. We knew that would accelerate the process for both of them.
"The fact we had other guys on our team. like Tee, Tyler, C.J. and Mixon, we knew it wouldn't be a singular focus on one guy. We knew it would make us a dangerous team to match up against. That's what you're looking for — matchups — especially with your offense."
All Chase did was have a dominant first season that earned him Sporting News Rookie of the Year. He did exactly what the Bengals foresaw of him playing in their offense and playing off everyone else.
5. Shored up linebacker
This can't be forgotten, either. Although the Bengals invested other draft picks at the position to improve a shaky second level that needed to be replenished, the selection of Logan Wilson in the third round in 2020 was critical.
Wilson has become a relentless playmaker against the run and in pass coverage and the ideal fit between the strengths of the players on the Bengals' defensive line and in their secondary.
6. Kicked up the special teams
Last but not least, the Bengals moved on from Randy Bullock at kicker and decided to use a 2021 fifth-round pick on Evan McPherson. The Florida product was the only kicker taken in this year's draft and the Bengals nailed the move.
McPherson has gone from having great potential with his accurate big leg to being an absolute field-goal machine. He is having the type of playoff run that's associated with the legendary Adam Vinatieri.
Led by Burrow, the Bengals have replaced more than half their starters with high-quality replacements in two years. There were big breaks in free agency and the draft, and there also were limited health issues, minus Burrow's knee injury. But as legendary Dodgers executive Branch Rickey once told Sporting News long ago, "Luck is the residue of design."
Given that Rickey was the man who brought Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball, it was apt for SN to hand Tobin his award on the same UCLA athletic field where Robinson once starred. There's no doubt Tobin believes the results are a reward for the intense, multifaceted process.
"It's the design — and they've got to stay healthy," he said. "When you pay a guy a lot of money in free agency, the design is that he's a guy everyone's going to be talking about. When you draft a guy high, you expect him to come in and impact your team right away.
"It's nice when they start coming together at the same time and you get a year like this."
