INDIANAPOLIS _ While praising how the Eagles built a Super Bowl team with big-money skill players and dynamic young ones, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin indicated Tuesday he thinks the Bengals are on a similar path.

"They've done a great job building their roster out and they've got some high-level players on big deals, not as big as the deals that we're talking about making, but big deals," Tobin said at the NFL scouting combine.

"And then they've hit on draft picks and that's what we've got to do. We've hit on some draft picks. We've got some guys that are in the pipeline coming in the last five games, I think some of our young guys started to come, which was great on the defensive side of the ball."

Tobin and head coach Zac Taylor praised players from the last three drafts and said that's a trend that must continue as they try to get huge money deals for their trio of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson.

Taylor again hit the offseason-long theme of the development challenge facing his staff. Or, as Tobin said, "It's what (coaches) do."

"It's getting the most out of our draft picks, when we've got a quarterback we're paying, when we've got other elite players we're going to pay," Taylor said. "It's important to do that, and it's on us as the coaching staff to make sure we're developing those guys when they come in the building."

Heading the list is last year's first-rounder Amarius Mims, a rookie Tobin says can make the Pro Bowl in 2025.

"He's a fantastic right tackle and if he can stay healthy, I think he's got a world of potential," Tobin said.

They see mass quantities of potential in a band of cornerbacks anchored by their 2022 first-round pick Dax Hill. Hill, a converted safety, was their best cornerback before he tore his ACL five games into the season. Classmate Cam Taylor-Britt, sophomores DJ Turner II and DJ Ivey and rookie Josh “Fig,” Newton took turns impressing in the five-game winning streak that ended the season.

"(Hill) was about to really explode. He was playing well and we're going to be talking about a very, very fine corner," said Tobin of new defensive coordinator Al Golden’s jack of all trades. "Wherever Al decides to line him up. If he lines him up inside, outside, wherever we're going to be talking about a fantastic player. He just needs to get back. And normally the second year off an ACL L is a little easier than the first year, but I think he's such a dynamic athlete that he might show us that the first year is just as good.

"Young guys like DJ Ivey and Fig Newton having to take on bigger roles. Some of those young guys got a taste of winning because we won the last five games and gave ourselves a chance and they had to be relied on for a role and so that was good to see."

Safety Jordan Battle, the 2023 third-rounder, settled in well enough in the second half of the season after unseating veteran Vonn Bell to get some praise from Taylor Tuesday.

"Jordan Battle really hit the ground running at the end of the season, and so I'm pleased with the direction that he's headed," Taylor said. "I've got a lot of confidence in him moving forward."

Not to mention running back Chase Brown, taken two rounds after Battle, who pleasantly surprised them this past season rushing for 990 rugged yards as a week-to-week three-down back.

"He really made a jump, particularly in those last two areas in the pass game," Taylor said of receiving and blocking, "and so just excited for his future. I think he's on the trajectory we hoped he would be when we drafted him, maybe even more so, quite frankly."

The Bengals reportedly won't have last year's fourth-round pick tight end Erick All Jr. in 2025 as he recovers from an ACL tear. But Tobin knows he impacted the roster enough that Taylor used the double tight-end formation twice as much:

"He was on pace to really be a dynamic tight end in our league."

The place where they need the young guys to really jump is on the defensive line, where 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy and 2024 second- and third-round picks Kris Jenkins Jr., and McKinnley Jackson, respectively, reside. They've been limited by playing time and injuries, but Tobin said Golden won't play the kids for youth sake.

"I think Al will play the best players. He's going to want guys that execute what he wants and if he wants you playing blocks and stay in square, he's going to play the guy that plays blocks and stays square," Tobin said. "If he wants you to secure the edge, he's going to play the guy that makes sure the edge is secured. If he wants you to play man cover and stay in inside technique, he's going to play the guy that does that. Al's going to be very open-minded on playing the best, not playing a veteran or playing a rookie."

LEADING QUESTIONS

Of course, Taylor talked Tuesday about getting off to a fast start this season: They're 0-6 in the first two games of the season over the last three years. But he's really dialed into those fast starts in games and is clearly impacted by the excruciating seven losses by seven points or fewer.

Taylor kept coming back to the importance of how playing with a lead takes pressure off everybody, particularly in both trenches. He wants 10-0 or 14-0 leads, not just 7-0 in order to set his offense the rest of the way.

"I'm not going to say we don't always start fast on offense, but I think those first two possessions, getting points on the board and taking control of the game to where now you can open up your offense a little bit more to keep defenses more honest," Taylor said. "Those are areas where we continue to improve in. We know we had the number one pass game in the NFL last year, but there are still things within that we want to continue to evolve. Our play-actions and our screens, and keep people accountable that way. I think playing with a lead, we've got to do a better job."

PAUL'S HAUL

In another series of no-brainer awards, the ubiquitous Paul Hirons of the United Kingdom has been named the Bengals' International Fan of the Year.

Since Hirons fell in love with the Boomer Esiason Bengals on 1980s Armed Forces Radio, he has been a striped stalwart and formed the wildly popular Bengals UK in 2014.

According to the announcement's press release, Hirons produces and co-hosts the weekly CinciNatter podcast, organizes in-season meet-ups across the UK, creates fan resources like recipe books and city guides, leads annual group trips to Cincinnati, has hosted the world's first online tailgates and brews a branded Bengals UK beer.

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Tobin didn't reveal any kind of a succession plan Tuesday, but he knows others in the league are looking at his staff. In what has become an annual rite of winter, senior personnel exec Trey Brown had plenty of interest and interviewed for the general manager job with the Jets and Jaguars.

He didn't get hired, but this tight-knit group of Tobin, Brown, pro scouting director Steven Radicevic, college scouting director Mike Potts, and scouts Andrew Johnson and Christian Sarkisian is getting attention.

"Trey is very good at what he does. All of our guys are," Tobin said. "Steve and Mike and Christian and Andrew, I value every one of them very, very much. They are good at what they do, and they do things in a lot of different areas. They have ownership of certain areas and work in other areas that build their repertoire.

"I can't imagine being without any of them. That doesn't mean that day won't come. We will be prepared for it when it does. I want them to succeed. I want them to have the success they want in their careers. I obviously believe in them pretty heavily because I put a lot on them."

Tobin continues to be comfortable with the size of his crew.

"If I thought we were missing something, I would definitely add more. Adding more just to satisfy a league quota isn't something I would do," Tobin said. "If I thought we were missing some area and weren't getting coverage where I need or where I wanted or we needed a capacity we don't currently have, then certainly I would look at it. Right now, I think the group is operating very effectively and cohesively." ….

One young player they have not given up on is wide receiver Jermaine Burton, their third-rounder last year who caught four balls and was benched twice as he adjusted to the pro game.

"He's an immensely talented guy. We're not giving up on him, but he's going to have to start showing it now and he's going to have to take the next step in his career," Tobin said. And I'm hopeful. I like Jermaine and he could add a lot to us, but he's going to have to want it for himself more than I want it for him." …

Tobin said the experience with Burton isn't going to impact this year's draft as they look at players with college questions.

"You're not blindsided by it. You know that there's risk. There's risk in every pick you make," Tobin said. "Sometimes the risk is not as obvious. Sometimes it's what you're willing to accept. Sometimes you take a small guy. That's a risk. You take a skill position guy that didn't time well. That's a risk. You take a guy that maybe the doctors have some concern about. That's a risk. You take a guy that has maybe struggled to learn, but tries his butt off. That's a risk. There's risk in everybody." …