Bengals Bites: Sweet Home Alabama

AJ McCarron a member of Cincinnati Bengals' Alabama club
A number of Bengals began their football careers in Alabama before making their way to Cincinnati at some point in their NFL careers.  Wallace Gilberry, Michael Johnson, Nico Johnson, Dre Kirkpatrick, AJ McCarron, Andre Smith, and Jake Smith all played college and/or high school football in Alabama. Onterio McCalebb, Pat Sims and C.J. Uzomah also played in the state, only they came from heated rival Auburn.

Jake Kumerow impressed during Bengals' spring workouts
In his weekly mailbag on ESPN, Bengals beat writer Coley Harvey singled undrafted free agent Jake Kumerow as a surprise player to watch out for this year. You don't see many 6-5, 208-pound receivers who can run a 4.5 40-time. You also don't see many guys catch 143 passes for 2,447 yards and 33 scores over a two-year span. That's what Kumerow did over two seasons at the FCS level.

Bengals positional breakdown and depth chart analysi on defense
Chris Roling of Bleacher Report takes a look at each defensive position and how it projects heading into training camp. With most of last year's unit back in addition to Michael Johnson's return, there aren't many surprises on his projected depth chart, which is likely how it will be in reality.

Richard Sherman wishes football was an Olympic sport
The Seahawks corner wishes the Olympics would adopt football as one of its many competitions. The guys at NFL.com also take a look at current NFL players with experience in other sports that are currently played in the Olympics. Watch out for war daddy Vince Wilfork in the shot put.

Five defenses built with the future in mind
Over at ESPN, Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders takes a look at five defenses in rebuilding mode based on how they're currently constructed. Schatz listed Pittsburgh, New England, St. Louis, San Deigo and the New York Giants. All five have some nice talent, but have relied too much on aging veterans that they'll be in for some growing pains in 2015.