The Cincinnati Bengals revealed quite a bit at the scouting combine.
Perhaps moreso than usual, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, director of player personnel Duke Tobin and an assortment of other coaches met with the media and offered insightful comments about the team.
Tack on prospects themselves revealing they have met with the Bengals and it’s easy to get a pretty clear picture of where the team will focus this offseason in the draft.
Details like positional battles, the status of free agents and potential cut candidates came up too.
Here are the most notable takeaways from Cincinnati’s trip to the scouting combine.
Burrow's extension is coming
Joe Burrow’s extension this summer was an obvious topic. And it was almost uncanny to see how shrug-worthy Bengals brass talked about it. Tobin especially — this is an extension that will steer the direction of the franchise for five-plus years and possibly check in at half a billion dollars. It speaks to how prepared the team is and possibly how smooth the whole process will be that everyone was so able to casually comment on it.
'Go find your own'
We know the Bengals aren’t trading Tee Higgins and everyone else got a lesson on that front when Tobin was not-so-nice about shutting down the trade speculation. Like Burrow, Higgins is available for an extension right now and it’s not ridiculous to think it could happen before the season, too.
Joe Mixon is likely gone
It was a little surprising to see Bengals brass so openly admit they have no idea what’s going to happen with Mixon. In situations like this, Tobin and Co. at least usually keep things vague with coach-speak. This time, they straight-up said they don’t know. There’s simply too much money to be saved by moving on from Mixon — money the team needs elsewhere — for the team to keep him at his current price tag and the read-between-the-lines commentary said as much.
Punter battle
The team will add a punter to compete with Drue Chrisman this offseason. No word on whether it’s a veteran or draft pick, but it’s coming. Special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons was especially adamant about this, suggesting Chrisman’s hangtime on the punt in the AFC title game was rough.
All things OL
Three important notes from the team at the combine about the offensive line:
- — Jackson Carman is in the mix for right tackle. That doesn’t mean the team won’t add more players, even in the first round, but he’s going to get a chance to play if La’el Collins isn’t ready for Week 1.
- — Jonah Williams isn’t moving off left tackle.
- — Line coach Frank Pollack is happy with four of the five spots, right tackle the exception due to Collins’ rehab. They could very well go into 2023 with the same starting five and anticipate another uptick in play after a season of reps together.
None of this means the Bengals won’t add players to the line as early as the first round. And upgrading depth after reserves were miserable in the playoffs is one of those it goes without saying things.
Positional focus
Our full Bengals prospects meetings tracker has each reported and/or mentioned meeting with players listed.
The big takeaway? The Bengals are all over running backs, tight ends and offensive line. Tight end is a big possibility in Round 1 and pretty much a guarantee in the first three rounds. Running back feels like a mid-round pick. They’re also looking at defensive backs, and especially boundary guys given the depth problem there.
No stunners here, but it’s still interesting to see which prospects they have actually wanted time with so far.
