Without the injured Burrow for nine games and with three different quarterbacks, the Bengals generated the 12th most points in the league with the second most touchdown passes. In large part, that was because of the Oct. 7 trade Tobin swung with Cleveland for quarterback Joe Flacco, the Bengals’ first trade ever with the Browns. He says few people in the universe could have done what head coach Zac Taylor did with Flacco in that brief amount of time.
“I saw things this year I wouldn’t have thought I would ever see. Somebody (Flacco) walk into the building two days before a game, pick up an incredibly complex offense. Go out with people he just shook hands with and make it work. That is amazing,” Tobin said.
“That speaks to him. It also speaks to our coaches and how they are able to immediately pivot and regenerate something that gave us a chance.
“Other parts of the team decided it wasn’t going to give us a chance. That’s on me. That’s on me. But there are things that worked and things that showed me, hey, we’ve got the right people in this building. Because that doesn’t happen. That was a rare, rare thing that you can create something out of nothing and then have the success that had. I’m proud of that.”
That’s why the offseason plan centers on adding talent to the defense. A defense that bounced back in the eight games after the bye to allow fewer than 18 points per game with draft picks such as cornerbacks DJ Turner II and Dax Hill, as well as defensive end Myles Murphy, stepping up their games to match their draft notices.
“It would be a different story if I didn’t see young players progressing and, I didn’t see a progression of understanding, knowledge, and execution of our defense,” Tobin said. “It would be a different story. Believe me, it would be a big different story in my mind. But the reason that it’s not is that I see growth. I see growth in a 24-year-old Myles Murphy and young corners who have taken the jump, and (safety) Jordan Battle who has taken the jump.”
Murphy, Turner, and Battle, as well as 1,000-yard, 69-catch running back Chase Brown, all came out of the 2023 draft class and are now eligible for extensions. Tobin says he’s all for quick, no-drama deals and indicated the Bengals are ready to do contracts with structures they haven’t always embraced with guaranteed money stretching beyond the first year.
“It depends on the player. It depends on the player, and what’s required. We’ll do what’s required if we have to secure a player that we think can help us win,” Tobin said. “I think the organization is willing to do anything it takes to win. I’ve been here long enough to know that. If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t say it.”
And that means defense. On Friday, it kept coming back to defense. With Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai free agents and first-round pick Shemar Stewart coming off an injury-plagued rookie season, Tobin made no secrets about his designs on the edge or a quicksilver three technique.