The Cincinnati Bengals are the surprise team of the NFL and are in the Super Bowl. The scouts explain thanks to which, at first seemingly unimpressive, commitments in 2021 this amazing development succeeded.

Munich/Cincinnati – The Cincinnati Bengals’ run to the Super Bowl is the Cinderella story of the year.

In the past three seasons, the franchise from Ohio always finished last in the AFC North. Only two wins came in the 2019 season, and only four wins in the 2020 season.

When talking about the reasons for the upswing, the names Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Mixon quickly come up. But these players alone would not have been capable of the turnaround. Around these three young top stars, none of the players mentioned is older than 25, a balanced squad emerged.

Duke Tobin is partly responsible for this. He has been employed by the Bengals as Director of Player Personnel since 1999. “The great thing about our staff is the cohesiveness, there are no egos,” he says. “We try to get all the scouts involved in all areas so we have more voices.”

Steven Radicevic, the Bengals director of pro scouting, is among his most important advisers. He scours the rosters of other NFL teams to look for players who fit the bill for his own team. Especially in 2021, he was often right with his assessments.

Eli Apple: The cheap starting cornerback

The signing of Eli Apple was announced on 23 March. The cornerback was the New York Giants’ first-round pick in 2016, but was considered a troublemaker there. He signed with three different teams between 2018 and 2020 without really landing anywhere.

Radicevic saw him as a worthwhile investment. “He’s a guy who needed a change of scenery and he has a lot of talent. He’s big, athletic and fast. You can never have enough depth at cornerback. He was still a young guy and didn’t cost a lot of money. It made sense.”

The pass defender signed a one-year deal for just $1.1 million. What the Bengals got in return? A key player who was a starter in 15 games this season and even made life difficult for Tyreek Hill in the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Evan McPherson: The kicker who makes the plays

At the 2021 NFL Draft, first-round pick Chase may have been in the public eye. But another player who wasn’t selected until the 5th round had a similar impact on the playoffs, which have been so successful thus far. The player in question is kicker Evan McPherson.

College scout Mike Potts had pushed hard for his signing. “You didn’t have to be an expert on kickers to realise that this guy kicked the ball better than most other people on the planet.”

And further, “In the conversations we had with people from his college in Florida, we were told he was a guy who was extremely confident in his abilities without being cocky.”

That assessment has been borne out: McPherson converted all of his field goals in the playoffs and kicked the Bengals to victory in the final two knockout games.

B.J. Hill: The Unexpected Trade

On August 30, just before the start of the season, another important trade was made with the signing of B.J. Hill. The signing of the defensive lineman was not actually planned. Rather, it was his former team, the New York Giants, who initiated the trade.

The reason: New York had a personnel shortage at the centre position and wanted to get Billy Price from Cincinnati. Since the Bengals preferred Trey Hopkins at that position anyway, Price was available. So the Giants’ roster was searched for a suitable trade candidate.

“We knew it had to be a player they could easily trade and was in the last year of his contract,” Radicevic says. The choice fell on Hill. Another bullseye, Hill ranks among the Bengals’ four most dangerous pass rushers with 5.5 sacks and even caught an interception in the AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs.

Tre Flowers: The tight ends’ nightmare

It’s well known that even mid-season signings can provide important momentum. A good example of this is Tre Flowers. The cornerback failed to convince in the first games of the season in the service of the Seattle Seahawks and was released after Week 5.

Radicevic saw something in him that those in charge of other NFL teams apparently didn’t. “While coaches were watching tape, we were looking into his background,” Radicevic says. “Everything we heard was positive. He’s got good character and has been another player who just benefited from a change of scenery.”

For an annual salary of just $1.5 million, they got Flowers, a pass defender who turned out to be a special weapon against opposing tight ends. In the AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs, he even took superstar Travis Kelce out of the game for the most part.

The four aforementioned players come to a combined annual salary of just $5.7 million, but are worth many times that. “You’re always looking,” Radicevic says of his job profile. Getting to the Super Bowl proves he has found the right players.