Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin slots in as the guy onlookers point to when discussing general managers around the NFL.
Tobin is featured for the Bengals in that regard and as such, gets credit or docked for the team’s performance based on how his input aligns with the vision of head coach Zac Taylor while producing results on the field.
Understandably, like Taylor himself in head coaching rankings, Tobin has a hard time climbing general manager rankings. The latest comes from NBC Sports’ Patrick Daugherty, who ranks Tobin 17th:
“Duke Tobin pushed the metaphorical easy button on Joe Burrow in 2020. Everything else has been hard. We know sacks can be a quarterback stat, but Burrow has never been protected well. And that’s just on offense. On defense, Tobin’s crew typically leaves it so that Burrow has to play a perfect game to have any chance of victory. The Bengals have finished in the top 16 by either points or yards allowed one time during the Burrow era. Although it’s true teams with elite offenses tend to surrender more enemy production, this was a one-man band in 2024 with Trey Hendrickson. So it’s not good news the linchpin edge rusher is on year two of a trade demand.”
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That so-called easy button is often a hot topic around Taylor, too. How much credit should all involved get for making the obvious choice with Joe Burrow (and Ja’Marr Chase too, really)? How much should they be docked and sit on hot seats for not doing more with those types of layup picks?
No easy answer. But also like Taylor? Tobin gets the benefit of the doubt while the Bengals throw the blame on fired coaches like Lou Anarumo and Frank Pollack. Now, 2025 is about proving that coaching swaps will be better aligned with player acquisition and player development, leading to better results on the field.
If not, Tobin’s going to nosedive in rankings quickly because the shine of making the obvious draft picks at the very top (never mind the conversation about even needing to pick that high to begin with) will keep fading.
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