Marquis Spruill could become just another hidden gem for the Bengals

Linebacker Marquis Spruill led Syracuse with an impressive 14.5 tackles-for-loss last season, improving his career mark to 41 -- second-most in school history. Spruill was selected by the ACC coaches as a third-team All-ACC athlete.

Spruill could follow a rising Bengals tradition where Cincinnati have grabbed players that participated in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Such as linebackers like J.K Schaffer and Bruce Taylor.

A starter since his freshman season at Syracuse, Spruill played outside as well as inside linebacker for the Orangemen. He has been billed as a high-motor guy with noticeable quickness. Throughout practice and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, I kept an eye on him to see what kind of energy that brought. He was always around the play. Even if he didn't make the tackle, he seemed to be involved at some level.

The Bengals linebackers are an improving unit and you can be assured that they'll continue to bring in younger linebackers into camp to find the next needle in the proverbial haystack. Especially with a guy that makes plays like this:

At the next level would add a little more bite to an already strong defense. Here is his promotional video from the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.