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Bengals' Marvin Lewis at Louisville Cardinals Pro Day

DeVante Parker, Lorenzo Mauldin, John Miller and Gerod Holliman are Louisville's prospects who should hear their names called before Round 3 of the 2015 NFL draft.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals made it a point to have a presence at Louisville's Pro Day on Wednesday.

After all, when the head coach is in attendance, you know there's at least one guy your team has their eye on. Marvin Lewis made his way to Louisville with the likes of Bill Belichick and other NFL coaches and scouts.

Easily the best prospect the Cardinals possess is DeVante Parker. The 6-3, 209-pound receiver was a monster throughout his college career, and he'll be an instant-impact guy his first year in the NFL. Parker missed the first seven games of his senior season with a foot injury, then returned to catch 43 passes for 855 yards and five touchdowns in the final eight games; he was a second-team All-ACC selection.

Parker also tied the school record for career touchdown receptions with 33 and had 10 100-yard games in his career. A team like the Bengals should pounce on him if he falls to pick No. 21, but it's highly unlikely he makes it past the Browns at No. 19. Rob Rang's most recent mock has Parker going No. 14 to Miami.

Here's an excerpt of his NFL.com profile:

NFL COMPARISON: Hakeem Nicks

BOTTOM LINE:

Parker does his best work when the ball is in the air. He uses his height and wingspan to consistently snatch anything that comes his way. Parker isn't going to overpower cornerbacks and he will have more contested catches than most explosive wideouts. He has consistently posted eye-popping yards-per-catch numbers during his time at Louisville and showed of solid athleticism at the combine. Parker has the potential to be a legitimate lead receiver for a West Coast offense.

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Cardinals offensive lineman John Miller and Jamon Brown are also two quality prospects. Both had good showings during the postseason all-star games, and Miller is the kind of mauler the Bengals want. However, Cincinnati is keeping Clint Boling and Eric Winston and with Trey Hopkins returning next year, the offensive line is pretty full. That could keep Miller and Brown off the Bengals' radar, but they're still worth watching.

At defensive back, Gerod Holliman and James Sample were two quality safeties the Bengals could look at after Round 2 and Charles Gaines was a solid corner who could challenge Chris Lewis-Harris for the fifth CB spot.

Lorenzo Mauldin is an interesting prospect. Like Bud Dupree of the rival Kentucky, he was more of a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker whose NFL position is up in the air. Zierlein reports that an AFC scout told him, "He'll get pegged as a 3-4 rush 'backer, but a 4-3 team could look at him as a situational pass rusher if he is there late second day."

The Bengals pick late in the second day, so keep an eye out for him. I know some services like CBS Sports have him pegged as a 3rd-to-4th rounder, I expect him to go within the first 100 picks. An NFC North scout also said of Mauldin, "I'm cheering hard for this kid, and I'll bang the table for him when the time is right."

Given that the Bengals had their head coach in attendance, it's safe to assume one or more of the aforementioned guys are on their radar in the first three rounds of the 2015 draft.

Here's the rest of the top Cardinal prospects, via CBS Sports:

RANK

PLAYER

POS.

POS. RANK

CLASS

HT.

WT.

PROJ. ROUND

12

DeVante Parker

WR

3

Sr

6-3

209

1

96

John Miller

OG

6

Sr

6-2

303

3

110

Gerod Holliman

FS

4

rJr

6-0

218

3-4

116

Lorenzo Mauldin

OLB

9

Sr

6-4

259

3-4

147

Charles Gaines

CB

19

rJr

5-10

180

4-5

175

Dominique Brown

RB

16

rSr

6-2

234

5

193

James Sample

SS

7

rJr

6-2

209

5-6

249

Gerald Christian

TE

14

rSr

6-3

244

7

271

Michael Dyer

RB

22

rSr

5-8

218

7-FA

287

Jamon Brown

OT

22

Sr

6-4

323

7-FA

318

B.J. Dubose

DE

29

Sr

6-4

284

7-FA

432

Jake Smith

C

14

rSr

6-3

309

--

475

Deiontrez Mount

DE

40

Sr

6-5

243

--

539

Terell Floyd

CB

56

Sr

5-9

187

--

604

Matt Milton

WR

78

rSr

6-5

205

--

779

Eli Rogers

WR

106

Sr

5-10

182

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