Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin thinks the Bengals have gone a long way toward fixing their defense with their offseason moves.

They made a huge trade before the draft, acquiring Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants in exchange for the 10^th-overall pick.

In the second round (41^st overall), Cincinnati took pass rusher and reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year Cashius Howell, followed by cornerback Tacario Davis in the third round. They will join Cincinnati’s top three additions in free agency – edge rusher Boye Mafe, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, and safety Bryan Cook.

After missing the playoffs the past three seasons, Tobin believes Cincinnati now has a defense that can support its high-powered offense, led by quarterback Joe Burrow. Tobin saw the Seattle Seahawks go from missing the playoffs in 2024 to winning the Super Bowl last season. He thinks Cincinnati’s defense will be a major problem for quarterbacks, similar to Seattle’s unit.

“If you look at what Seattle did this year and what a lot of championship teams have done, they’ve had those waves of guys, and we feel like we’re establishing that,” Tobin said via Geoff Hobson of the Bengals’ website.

“With Boye and Cook, they’re young guys just hitting the stride of their career. I don’t even think they’ve hit their ceiling yet, and they’ve had a lot of success, and they’ve got championship rings, and they understand what it looks like. They fit physically what we want them to be, and we were very happy that they were interested in us and we could make it work out.”