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The Bengals clearly want to add a quarterback in this year's NFL Draft, but if they can't find one they like, SMU's Garrett Gilbert could be someone they look to sign as a priority free agent.
Per Tom Pelissero of USA TODAY Sports:
The Falcons and Carolina Panthers came to Dallas to work him out. He went to St. Louis on Tuesday to work out for the Rams. The Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys had him in for visits, too.
Gilbert was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, and he's not expected to be one of the 256 players that hear their names called on Draft Day.
He missed the final two games of his senior season and was unable to play in the NFLPA Bowl. He still threw for 3,528 yards, 21 touchdowns and 7 interceptions and was sacked 26 times.
| Passing | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate |
| *2009 | Texas | Big 12 | SR | QB | 10 | 30 | 66 | 45.5 | 310 | 4.7 | 2.6 | 2 | 4 | 82.8 |
| 2010 | Texas | Big 12 | SR | QB | 12 | 260 | 441 | 59.0 | 2744 | 6.2 | 4.9 | 10 | 17 | 111.0 |
| *2011 | Texas | Big 12 | SR | QB | 2 | 15 | 31 | 48.4 | 247 | 8.0 | 5.7 | 1 | 2 | 113.1 |
| *2012 | Southern Methodist | CUSA | SR | QB | 13 | 268 | 506 | 53.0 | 2932 | 5.8 | 5.1 | 15 | 15 | 105.5 |
| 2013 | Southern Methodist | American | SR | QB | 335 | 504 | 66.5 | 3528 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 21 | 7 | 136.2 | |
| Career | Overall | 908 | 1548 | 58.7 | 9761 | 6.3 | 5.6 | 49 | 45 | 116.3 | ||||
| Texas | 305 | 538 | 56.7 | 3301 | 6.1 | 4.7 | 13 | 23 | 107.7 | |||||
| Southern Methodist | 603 | 1010 | 59.7 | 6460 | 6.4 | 6.1 | 36 | 22 | 120.8 | |||||
Most remember Gilbert from his three unsuccessful seasons in Texas, in which he threw for just 3,301 yards, 13 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He has a career completion percentage of just 58.7, but did complete 66.7 percent of his throws in his final season.
"He might be as undervalued as anyone in the draft, because people look at him through the prism of three years at Texas, where he wasn't notably successful," said Gilbert's agent, Leigh Steinberg. "It became difficult for them to look at who he's become."
If the Bengals do nab Gilbert, he'd be competing with Zac Robinson for the third and final QB spot, assuming Jason Campbell is the primary backup.
The only other QBs the Bengals have reportedly show interest in are Pittsburgh's Tom Savage and Bo Cordell out of Tusculum.