Cincinnati Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin speaks on frustrations after 6-11 finish and what comes next for the franchise.
The Cincinnati Bengals came into 2025 thinking this would be the year they got back to the playoffs, but instead they limped to a 6-11 finish and watched from home for the third straight season.
Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin spoke to reporters after the year ended, and he did not hide how much the results bothered him on a personal level.
Tobin Gets Real About What This Season Meant
Tobin has spent his entire career building this franchise and he made it clear that falling short of expectations is something he takes to heart because Cincinnati means so much to him.
"It hurts when we're not representing the city the way that we need to," Tobin said during his end-of-season press conference. "I think we are capable of it."
Those words carry weight coming from someone who has dedicated his life to the Bengals, and the numbers back up why he feels so frustrated.
Cincinnati finished third in the AFC North while scoring 24.4 points per game, but the defense gave up a brutal 28.9 points per game which ranked 30th in the entire league according to Pro Football Reference.
Even when the offense showed up, the defense found ways to give games away.
Burrow's Injury Changed Everything
The season went sideways in Week 2 when Joe Burrow went down with a Grade 3 turf toe injury that needed surgery and kept him out for nine games.
Cincinnati tried to stay afloat with Jake Browning and Joe Flacco taking snaps, but the team went just 1-8 without their franchise quarterback and fell out of the race before Burrow could even get healthy.
He came back on Thanksgiving and led an upset win over the Ravens that showed what this team could be, but by then the damage was already done.
The Roster Has Stars But Major Holes
On paper, Cincinnati has the pieces to compete with Burrow, First-Team All-Pro receiver Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and running back Chase Brown all locked up on offense.
The problem is that none of that matters if the defense keeps giving up points at the rate it did this year.
The pass rush disappeared after Trey Hendrickson got hurt, and opposing quarterbacks picked apart the secondary all season long.
Fixing the Defense Comes First
Tobin said the biggest focus this offseason will be adding pass rushers who can get to the quarterback because everything else on defense flows from that.
The Bengals hold the No. 10 pick in the draft and will almost certainly use it to address the defensive side of the ball.
The talent is there for Cincinnati to turn things around quickly, but Tobin and the front office have to find answers this offseason or risk wasting the best years of Burrow's career.