Bengals Bytes (5/3): Not an option

Cincinnati Bengals' Andrew Billings is thinking payback
Nine days before the NFL draft, former Baylor standout Andrew Billings was sent to the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of a televised mock draft conducted by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay. That mock pick was made amid serious buzz around the defensive tackle. It was the kind of buzz that made it seem like the 6-foot-2 lineman would hear his name called last Thursday night as one of the draft's first 31 picks.

Cincinnati Bengals corners embrace first-round pick Jackson
Nothing will ping a player’s radar or tweak his pride quite like seeing his team use its first-round draft pick on someone who plays his position. And the alert level only intensifies when the veteran just happens to be entering the final year of his contract, as Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick happens to be. But Kirkpatrick said he fully endorses the team taking Houston cornerback William Jackson III in the first round of this year’s draft.

Bengals Beat Podcast: Draft Review
Following the 2016 NFL Draft, Paul Dehner Jr. and Jim Owczarski gather to break down all seven picks and the fallout across the roster for the Bengals. Hear from cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick reacting to a first-round corner showing up, Tyler Boyd on confidence to make an instant impact at receiver, Andrew Billings, Marvin Lewis and defensive line coach Jacob Burney about the fourth-round pick's motivation and offensive line coach Paul Alexander venting about fan frustration surrounding Russell Bodine.

Bengals' Dre Kirkpatrick rehabbing after shoulder surgery, source says
After playing nearly all of last season with a nagging shoulder injury, Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick had surgery to fix the issue two months ago, a source told ESPN on Monday. Kirkpatrick is still rehabbing as the Bengals go through their voluntary offseason workout program, but he is expected to be fully healthy before Cincinnati begins organized team activities (OTAs) May 24.

Olympic training worked for Margus Hunt once, so he went back to it
If there's a word Margus Hunt wants to use to define his fourth season in the NFL, it has to be "power." Simply put, athletic power is required to play the game of football at every position, but it is a downright necessity for defensive ends like him. That's why as he enters his final year under contract with the Cincinnati Bengals, Hunt has gotten creative with his offseason training regimen.

Bengals corners react to 1st-rounder's arrival
Any time a first-round player shows up at your position in the NFL, the natural reaction is to feel nerves kick up and wonder how this will affect your future with the club. The natural reaction for Adam Jones and Dre Kirkpatrick was to eat steak.

Welcome on the corner
If you read their reviews (FOX, ESPN, CBS and, for all we know, the FBI and CIA) Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin and his staff along with the coaches don’t need a lot of help. But Pro Bowl cornerback Adam Jones, a budding college scout who covers more ground than his punt returns, is in the wings if he needs him. On Monday he praised the Bengals draft room for the selection of Houston cornerback William Jackson at No. 24, declaring him a better prospect than the draft’s No. 1 corner, Florida State’s Jalen Ramsey, taken No. 5 by Jacksonville.

Marvin Lewis Nominated for 2016 "All Stars of Giving" Award
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is nominated by All Sports United for the fourth annual "All Stars of Giving" award. One finalist will be named the "2016 Humanitarian of the Year" and receive $10,000 for his or her charity. The All Sports United "Humanitarian of the Year" award recognizes the efforts of professional athletes and coaches as philanthropists. Lewis formed the Marvin Lewis Community Fund in 2003 in order to create positive change in Cincinnati. The Fund’s mission is to empower youth education in the region and to date has raised over $10 million. In 2015, 90 cents of each dollar raised was reinvested into the community.

Random Bytes

Miami Dolphins unveiling radical idea for rookie minicamp
The Miami Dolphins will have their eight draft picks and 10 undrafted free agents in town beginning Thursday, and rookie minicamp will go from Friday to Sunday. And the rookies will not touch the field at the team's training facility...

Data Science: The Browns Won the Draft, Again
Based on the analytics and data science we used to rank every NFL Prospect as well as leveraging the NFL Draft Machine, we present our rookie class rankings. All teams are ranked on rookie class impact in the upcoming NFL season. These rankings are a combination of overall impact, weighted impact from the top players and average impact of all players. This list includes UDFA signings as of May 1st.

Mackensie Alexander's field of opportunity: From Florida's orange groves to the NFL
How the hardships of picking oranges and tomatoes in the fields of Florida delivered Clemson star Mackensie Alexander to the NFL's doorstep.

The seven risky decisions that will define this NFL Draft in a few years
Another NFL Draft is in the books and it's time to sort through all the picks and all of the trades and try to make some sense of it. This was always going to be a draft that fell off a cliff in terms of blue-chip players and then dropped again about eight picks later and then had a bevy of players who really could have gone anywhere from the 20s to the 40s.

Top 20 fantasy rookies
If we have learned anything in recent seasons, it's that rookies can come in and make an instant impact both in the stat sheets and in fantasy football. Owners who fielded David Johnson, Jameis Winston and Amari Cooper last season can attest to that. So, who has the most potential for 2016? Here's a look at 20 rookies ranked in order of when they'll likely be picked in your seasonal fantasy football draft.

Report: Laremy Tunsil won’t go into substance abuse program
Laremy Tunsil lost millions of dollars and became the subject of national ridicule, but at least he won’t be subject to more extensive drug testing.

Pittsburgh Steelers OLB James Harrison takes to Instagram to announce his return in 2016
The Pittsburgh Steelers were banking on James Harrison's return in 2016, and after a few months of deliberation he has announced he will be returning to the team next year.

Von Miller gets the boot from Dancing with the Stars
Broncos linebacker Von Miller won't be expanding his trophy case before next February. Miller, who chased his Super Bowl 50 MVP award with an appearance on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, has been eliminated from the contest, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post.

Mark Sanchez considers Denver Broncos' pick of Paxton Lynch a vote of confidence
Mark Sanchez didn't see the Denver Broncos' selection of Paxton Lynch in the NFL draft as a threat. Sanchez saw it as affirmation that he is on track to be the starting quarterback for the defending Super Bowl champions.

No Seattle Seahawks will wear Marshawn Lynch's 24 in 2016, general manager John Schneider says
The Seattle Seahawks drafted 10 players last week and signed 13 more rookie free agents. None of them will wear Marshawn Lynch's No. 24. "One of my last conversations with Marshawn was that nobody was going to wear No. 24 this year in the regular season," Seahawks general manager John Schneider said Monday during an appearance on 710 ESPN Seattle's Brock and Salk show.

2017 NFL Mock Draft: Matt Miller's Way-Too-Early Predictions
The 2016 NFL draft is barely behind us, but it's never too early to start talking about next season.  It always seems like the upcoming draft class is projected to be better than the one that just entered the NFL, but that's not the case this year. There isn't currently a slam-dunk quarterback prospect due to size and/or production, and the wide receiver class is looking thin as well.

Final count: 12 first-round picks from ’13 have fifth-year options declined
The decisions are in, and 12 first-round picks from 2013 did not have their fifth-year contract options picked up by the teams that drafted them. The deadline for such decisions was Monday. Some were of the last-minute variety, though it’s possible some teams just held off on announcements until Monday.