Montgomery had a willing pupil in Slaton, and they saw enough growth by the middle of his second season that it had them thinking of a bold move.
At the start of his third year in 2023, Montgomery had enough confidence in Slaton to move three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark off the nose and over to the three technique.
“We felt good about Kenny going anywhere. If we move him, we’re taking a lot of production off the field at that position, and can we replace it?” Montgomery says. “And T.J. did that.
“He replaced Kenny’s production in the run game at a nose tackle, which is saying a lot because Kenny was averaging 60 some tackles a year.”
In that break-out season, Slaton basically doubled his snaps to 626 and tackles to 50. When Montgomery left the next season, Slaton had 200 fewer snaps, but he had 30 tackles, and ESPN ranked him first among defensive tackles in run stop win rate for the NFL’s seventh-best defense.
“It’s always good to have a guy in there who plays the way you need him to play and he’s stout,” Montgomery says. “He can take two. Kill single blocks. When he’s really playing well, he can push the pocket on early downs and affect the quarterback.”
Montgomery likes the mix of vets and kids in the room, which is why he was so happy with the Hill signing.
“Talk about production and a play style. B.J. has that already,” Montgomery says. “To have a guy who does what we want to do already, it would have been hard to have him walk out of the door. I’m thankful he wanted to be a Bengal.”
He’s also thankful he’s back driving “The Truck,” in the run-rich AFC North.
“He’s as solid as it comes in the run game,” Montgomery says, “and has really developed his game.”