Duke Tobin

[*SHRacerX*]

(04-26-2020, 06:41 PM)Nati#1 Wrote: I think Duke has done a shitty job the past 4 years in the draft. He's a dude who got a job because of his dad basically.

To criticize him for the last four years, you have to evaluate his impact since joining the Bengals.  He has been an executive with them since 1999 and had some outstanding drafts in there as well.  One of the biggest knocks recently was losing Whit and signing Ogbuehi and Fisher.  That, and drafting Ross while Mahommes was on the board.  

Ogbuehi and Fisher were good prospects, but didn't pan out.  That turned out to be a couple picks that they rode in to the ground and suffered mightily for it.  

I find it interesting that the Raiders took Henry Ruggs, the fastest WR in the draft that has no where near the production that Ross had in college.  He has really, really poor deep ball rankings (one of the worst, actually) but the Raiders said his speed will help open up their entire offense.  Sounds a bit like how the Bengals view Ross....but, hey, it is the Raiders, so they are immune to criticism since they have former media guys Mayock and Gruden.  It will be interesting to see how Ruggs produces relative to Jeudy (who I think is amazing), Lamb (ditto), Jefferson, and Reagor.  You never know if a trade back was available to them, but wow...with all those WRs still on the board at #12.  

Back to Tobin:  He will be measured by his drafts from last year and this year for some time.  If Williams does what he thinks we can do, and Sample contributes as both a blocker and receiver, last year's draft instantly becomes a lot more credible.  They already have their starting LG from the 4th round of last year.  That being said, I will always hate the Finley pick.

This year's draft could be huge.  Of course, there is the QB for the next decade and beyond.  The AJ Green-lite in Higgins.  Three, count them....THREE LBs that should be able to contribute right away.  Then, depth plays at DE and G/OT.  

The other thing that is often overlooked is their success in UDFAs.