Think about this. The Cincinnati Bengals and GM-who-doesn't-actually-hold-the-title-of-GM Duke Tobin almost didn't have Trey Hendrickson stick around for the 2025 season. They reluctantly gave him a raise at the 11th hour, when Hendrickson had to be at his wit's end.
Cut to Week 8, where the 3-4 Bengals have a golden opportunity to claw back to .500 at home against the 0-7 New York Jets.
Hendrickson must've seen Aaron Rodgers running all over the field last Thursday, slinging four TD passes with nary a pass rusher breathing on him, and thought, "I should get back in action as soon as possible."
Eager to rejoin his teammates, Hendrickson evidently rushed back from a hip injury that kept him out for Week 7. He proceeded to reaggravate that injury, was clearly banged-up when he was on the field, and the Bengals' defense blew it in a humiliating 39-38 loss.
Many will blame head coach Zac Taylor. More will blame defensive coordinator Al Golden. I'll blame them both to some degree. That said, Duke Tobin is the man I'm blaming most for this utter unraveling.
Bengals sort-of GM Duke Tobin is the culprit in Cincinnati for inexcusable loss to Jets
Could I interest you in a trip down memory lane, Who Dey Nation? Allow me to spell out how awful some of Tobin's recent premium draft picks have fared in the NFL to date.
DB Dax Hill: 1st round, 31st overall pick (2022) — Failed as departed safety Jessie Bates' heir apparent. Switched to outside cornerback in 2024; suffered torn ACL. Now plays nickelback. Fringe/replacement-level starter.
CB Cam Taylor-Britt: 2nd round, 60th overall pick (2022) — Benched multiple times. Can't play.
DE Myles Murphy: 1st round, 28th overall pick (2023) — Negligible impact across two-plus NFL seasons. Admits to poor work ethic on the record.
DT Kris Jenkins Jr.: 2nd round, 49th overall pick (2024) — Struggled through injury as a rookie. Hyped as training camp MVP by Al Golden. Has no business being anything more than an NFL backup to date.
WR Jermaine Burton & DT McKinnley Jackson: 3rd-round picks (2024) — Healthy scratches in Week 8. Burton has yet to be up for any game this season.
DE Shemar Stewart: 1st round, 17th overall pick (2025) — Promising debut precedes Week 2 ankle injury. Early Week 8 PFF numbers rate Stewart as Cincinnati's worst defensive player with 33.8 grade.
Do I even need to bring up the fact that the Bengals and Tobin decided to re-up defensive end Joseph Ossai (69th overall pick, 2021) on a $6.5 million deal for this season, only to see him continue to be a bad player by NFL standards?
Bengals defensive linemen not named Trey Hendrickson combined for 2 pressures and 2 wins on 155 combined opportunities in their loss to the Jets, per PFF’s initial charting.
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) October 26, 2025
A win rate of 1.3%.
Historically bad day of pass rushing for the Bengals as they let up 39 to the Jets.
Let's not even get into how poor Tobin has fared in trying to acquire a passable group of starting offensive linemen. That's a whole other can of worms.
In no world is this anywhere near good enough. That draft record rivals anyone in the league across the last four years for how poor it is.
Bengals coaching staff and players can only do so much to overcome Duke Tobin's incompetence
While Tobin has his own limitations thanks to mom-and-pop shop operation that is the Bengals, he's bargain-bin shopped time and again to build a team around Joe Burrow. It ain't working.
Tobin struck gold years ago by signing Hendrickson and Mike Hilton in free agency. Since 2021, other than the no-brainer draft pick of superstar wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase at No. 5 overall, it's been a whole lot of swings and a whole lot of misses.
Combine that with the stinginess over guaranteed money, and the drawn-out contract negotiations for Burrow, Chase, Tee Higgins, and Hendrickson, and Tobin's resume looks all the more embarrassing.
Al Golden obviously needs to dial up more blitzes to manufacture a pass rush. It would also help if the Bengals hit on literally any other cornerback they've acquired in recent years other than DJ Turner so they could hold up on the back end when Cincinnati sends extra men.
We as a united Who Dey Nation are not asking for the moon, or even a 40% draft hit rate. Just borderline, league-average competence would go such a long way.
Complacent Bengals powers that be need to light a fire by canning Duke Tobin
It's time for the Bengals to modernize their scouting department. Hiring a couple extra hands this offseason wasn't enough. There needs to be a revolutionary overhaul, and it starts with Tobin.
Owner Mike Brown and the in-law Blackburns must be sending the message to Tobin that his job is secure as can be. How else do you explain such lazy, underbaked evaluations that have led to so many whiffs?
Joe Burrow deserves better. Zac Taylor and Al Golden deserve better talent to work with.
Credit Tobin all you want for the Joe Flacco trade, but it doesn't really matter if the defense is a biologically-animated sieve.
Just make it stop. Fire Duke Tobin yesterday.