Central Michigan TE Tyler Conklin details his combine interview with Bengals

A lot has been made of questions NFL teams ask over the years to prospects entering the draft. The Bengals have been known to ask some out-of-the-box questions ranging from who fought in specific wars to the direction in which the sun sets.

Central Michigan tight end Tyler Conkin is chronicling his pre-draft experience for The Detroit Free Press and wrote about his official meeting with the Bengals during the NFL Scouting Combine.

Here, Conklin starts talking about the combine process and transitions into his interview with the Bengals:

The days consisted of informal interviews, formal interviews, a 3 a.m. drug test, and psychological testing. I met with everyone from potential coaches to doctors to psychologists.

I had formal interviews with three teams, the Bengals, Jaguars and 49ers. My first formal interview was with Cincy and it started off with me talking to a psychologist. He gave me four words to remember: brother, golf, home and green. After he told me the words, he started asking me math problems, like what’s five plus four, times six, minus 13, plus 13 … It was probably eight to 10 numbers. Then he asked me who were we at war with in 1960, different things like that. Then he asked me to recall the four words, so that was probably one of the more interesting meetings I had.

My formal interviews with the Jaguars and 49ers went really well. They were different. They were a lot more laid back, kind of watching film and talking.

Pretty much everything Conklin mentions is stuff that former draft prospects — including current Bengals — have mentioned as having happened in their combine meetings with the team. Shocker: the Bengals fall into routines and repeat the same things over and over again.

The Bengals asked Corey Coleman (now on the Browns) a similar war-related question to what Conklin was asked and asked Josh Doctson (now on the Texans) was also asked to remember four words, two of which were the same as Conklin’s set of words. Doctson’s four words were sock, green, brother, golf.

Conklin is expected to be an early Day 3 draft pick following three seasons with the Chippewas. He recorded back-to-back 500+ yard receiving seasons and 11 touchdowns in his time at Central Michigan.

The Bengals were also at Central Michigan’s pro day, so it looks like the team is keeping a close eye on Conklin.

Here’s an excerpt from his NFL.com draft profile:

Conklin requires tape study from both 2016 and 2017 as his preseason foot injury appeared to create some limitations for him athletically. He’s a capable receiver, but he isn’t going to make a living as a pass-catching tight end. Conklin shows the aptitude and attitude to handle blocking duties inline or as a move tight end, but his draft stock could depend on his medicals and how he tests at the Combine.