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The Cincinnati Bengals angered a good number of fans during the first round when they passed on Stanford offensive guard David DeCastro, allowing him to slide to their arch nemeses, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead of going after DeCastro, they decided to trade down from pick 21 to pick 27 and select Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler. Many questioned the move at the time, but the Bengals reportedly had Zeitler ranked just as high as DeCastro.
Apparently the Bengals were not the only team that thought that highly of Zeitler. According to Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson, some think that Zeitler was the best offensive lineman in the draft.
Former Houston Texans and Washington Redskins General Manager, Charley Casserly, is one of those people that believes in Zeitler's abilities:
"He may have been the best offensive lineman in the draft," Casserly said.
This group of offensive linemen includes not only DeCastro, but USC tackle Matt Kalil, who was selected fourth overall by the Minnesota Vikings. This is lofty praise coming from the former GM.
Sport's Illustrated's Peter King also gave Hobson some information on Zeitler. King says that a couple of teams told him that Zeitler reminded them of Pro Bowl guard Marshall Yanda. He, of course, is the Ravens guard that signed a five-year contract worth $32 million last offseason. Yanda attended a Big Ten school himself in the University of Iowa, similar to his now-AFC North counterpart in Zeitler.
The Bengals' new guard has already won over many citizens of Cincinnati. For instance, he and many other Bengal rookies attended the Children's Hospital in Cincinnati in late May. He also scored a 40 on the Wonderlic Test at the combine. If Zeitler can have a similar career to Yanda's on the football field and continues to be a good citizen off the field, Zeitler could be in line for a big extension in a few years.