Minnesota safety Brock Vereen met with Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals signed Danieal Manning to give themselves depth at strong safety, but they still need a viable backup behind Reggie Nelson at free safety.

Enter Minnesota safety Brock Vereen, the younger brother of New England Patriots running back Shane Vereen.

Per Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post:

Vereen has met with the Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons and the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to a league source.

At the NFL scouting combine, the 6-foot, 200-pounder ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds, bench pressed 225 pounds 25 times, best at his position group, had a 4.07 short shuttle for the second-best at his position, and had a 34-inch vertical leap.

Athletic and instinctive, Vereen, whose father played wide receiver at UNLV and was a ninth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1979 NFL draft, started 36 career games for the Golden Gophers.

Vereen has shifted between cornerback and safety in college, and would be an ideal candidate to backup Nelson as FS while also providing depth at CB. Vereen was a full-time starting CB in 2011, recording 67 tackles 67 and 3.5 tackles for loss.

He moved to free safety in 2012 and started seven games and began his senior season there in 2013 before moving back to cornerback for the final seven games, earning First Team All-Big Ten honors.

He's projected to in the fourth round or later, so this is a name to watch for on Day 3 of the draft.