On March 12, the Ohio State Buckeyes held their Pro Day putting stocked (not all of whom are first rounders) defensive talent on display. Most notable is that some of the players that stood out are at positions that the Bengals could elect to address during next month's NFL Draft. Like defensive linemen Doug Worthington, Robert Rose, Lawrence Wilson, Thaddeus Gibson or safety Kurt Coleman.
Mocking the Draft ranks Worthington as the 18th best defensive tackle and Coleman as the sixth best strong safety coming into the draft. ESPN is slightly more favorable to Worthington, ranking him ninth among defensive ends.
But one of the more favorable additions by the Bengals could be, of all things, a place kicker. Since the Bengals elected not to re-sign Shayne Graham, Cincinnati is without one. Yes, Dave Rayner is signed and on the squad. I hardly think that he's going to be the team's place kicker come kickoff weekend when they could likely pick up a quality leg through the draft. And yes, people keep leaving the door open that Graham will return. Pettrey is ranked fourth by ESPN.
The last player that the Bengals drafted in the first round out of the Ohio State University is the legendary (for the wrong reasons) Dan Wilkinson in 1994. Actually, he's the last Buckeyes player drafted by the Bengals. At all. Yea, surprised me too. Fifteen players in all have been drafted out of Ohio State. A quick note: We've drafted six Michigan players since the last time we drafted a Buckeye.