The Cincinnati Bengals are an offensive-leaning team — not just a little bit, a lotta bit. Contracts for Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins underscore the point. Heck, throw in deals for left tackle Orlando Brown and tight end Mike Gesicki to emphasize the point.
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin is comfortable with the scales tilted to the offense, but adds that Cincy must build a better defense to take the next step.
“I feel as strongly about the defense as I feel about the offense as far as necessity,” Tobin said Monday, via SI.com. “It has to work together. You’re always gonna be a little heavier on one side of the ball or the other depending on how you’re paying your team. There can be an imbalance based on that. But you still have to have a complementary team.”
The Bengals tried to outshoot clubs last season, and while Burrow and Co. pulled out some wins, in the end, a struggling defense kept them out of the playoffs. The issues led to a change at the helm with the firing of Lou Anarumo and hiring Al Golden to run the D.
“We believe we can outscore anybody,” Tobin said. “That’s just our mindset. That’s who we are. That’s what we’ve always been about. But you always have to take care of the other side of the ball. Defense always has been important to me, even though I’m an offensive guy at heart and I’ve always been an offensive guy at heart.”
The issues on defense are one reason it’s always seemed unlikely that the Bengals would trade pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who is embroiled in a contract dispute, unless they got a massive haul in return.
Tobin has attempted to stock the defense through recent drafts. Last year, the club used a second-round pick on defensive tackle Kris Jenkins. In 2023, their first three picks were on defense: pass rusher Myles Murphy (first round), defensive back DJ Turner II (second) and DB Jordan Battle (third). In 2021, Tobin took DBs with his first two picks: Dax Hill (first) and Cam Taylor-Britt (second). The issue has been a mixed bag of results, with none becoming a game-changing difference-maker like Burrow, Chase, or Higgins on offense.
Tobin is sure to take several more swings on the defensive side of the ball this week during the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, with edge, safety and linebacker atop their needs list.
