Bengals Bytes (6/1): World fame

Cincinnati Bengals rookie Tyler Boyd is no Pinto, he's more 'Cadillac' - Cincinnati Bengals Blog- ESPN
Bengals rookie receiver Tyler Boyd made a good first impression on some of the team's veterans during offseason workouts last week. It was just after the Cincinnati Bengals' first organized team activity (OTAs) practice last Tuesday when veteran cornerback Adam Jones started giving his assessment of the team's recently added rookies.

100 NFL predictions that will frame 2016 season - Tom Brady, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Eddie Lacy, J.J. Watt, Von Miller
As the Bengals look for a complement to top receiver A.J. Green, expect 2015 practice squad WR Jake Kumerow to get a lot of action this summer. He and rookie Tyler Boyd will be heavily used in the preseason.

5 observations/notes from May 31 Bengals OTA session
Here are five observations and notes from the Bengals' May 31 Organized Team Activity offseason workout session (the fourth of 10 such sessions), which was held on the team's practice fields adjacent to Paul Brown Stadium (this was the second of three Tuesday sessions that are open to the media)

Notes: Practice makes Burfict; Defense doesn't mind Freeney tread
A red-zone drill in May with no pads or a game with January pay stubs and Bengals WILL linebacker Vontaze Burfict is going to approach it the same way. And his teammates salute it. During Tuesday’s drill in the red zone, Burfict and the rest of the first-team defense watched quarterback Andy Dalton hit tight end C.J. Uzomah in the end zone before he found diving wide receiver Jake Kumerow for another touchdown and then heard the cheers of the offense.

Burfict sets the edge in first full practice
After the fact, Tyler Kroft could smile about it. In the moment, the Cincinnati Bengals’ second-year tight end’s instincts kicked in and he went diving to the turf to corral the ball that Vontaze Burfict had ripped from his hands, creating a two-man scrum in the end zone following a reception.

Eifert injury creates openings for young Cincinnati Bengals TEs
With Pro Bowl tight end Tyler Eifert recovering from ankle surgery and expected to miss three months, youngsters such as second-year players C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Kroft are benefiting from extra reps, many of which are coming with, and against, the starters.

ESPN World Fame 100 -- No. 95 Andy Dalton
We asked Ben Alamar, ESPN's director of sports analytics, to figure out the most famous athletes in the world. Using a formula that combines athlete paychecks - salary and endorsements - with social media fan base and Google search popularity, he ranked the world's 100 most famous athletes. Here is the ESPN World Fame 100.

Oh baby: playoff vet McCarron settles in as experienced No. 2
AJ McCarron can never, ever, remember being away from a football team for a day, never mind a week. So when he came back Tuesday dropping enough dimes to send Raymond Anthony McCarron III all the way through the University of Alabama, he was surprised as anyone.

Bengals notes: McCarron back as proud papa
One of the first personality traits evident upon meeting AJ McCarron outside the football field is his steady smile, contagious laugh and constant chase to tell the next joke. His joking nature sets teammates at ease and makes him fast friends.

Random Bytes

Kidnapped soccer player Alan Pulido stole his captor's gun, shot him and escaped himself
Olympiacos striker Alan Pulido was kidnapped over the weekend following a party in his hometown of Ciudad Victoria, Mexico. Reports emerged on Monday that Pulido was rescued. Now we know that is a half-truth, and Pulido turned into Jason Bourne during his kidnapping.

Cleveland Browns: Major Challenge Facing the Offensive Line
The offense the Cleveland Browns will employ this season utilizes space to create opportunities for their athletic skill players. This scheme has a number of advantages but it also puts a lot of pressure on the offensive line, which presents a problem.

Just how bad was the Steelers' 2016 draft?
The Steelers broke away from their usual BPA, and instead tried to fill needs. While this makes sense on paper, this also caused the Steelers to make some massive reaches. Starting in round one with Artie Burns, we went all in in order to get a CB, a position desired by the Rooney's, even though Burns seemed like a mid to early second round pick. Reports came out that the Chiefs were targeting him, which furthered the reasoning behind the pick.

Former QB hit by Shaq Thompson’s car out of hospital, may sue
Former Duke quarterback Anthony Boone is finally out of the hospital, but Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson isn’t out of the woods yet. According to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer, Boone was released from Carolinas Medical Center over the weekend, after needing hip and hand surgeries following the May 22 car wreck with Thompson.

A Journalist Takes on Broncos All-Pro CB Chris Harris
A one-time star tight end (well, in middle school) and current 29-year-old journalist, I challenged the Broncos’ All-Pro cornerback to an afternoon of one-on-ones. To my surprise, he accepted. My journey to a turf field in Tulsa, from the elation of a nine-yard reception to the pain and embarrassment of… pretty much everything else that happened that day

Broncos wideout Cody Latimer calls cops on girlfriend, bails her out
Broncos wide receiver Cody Latimer called the cops on his girlfriend, and ended up in trouble himself. According to Mike Klis and Jeremy Jojola of KUSA, Latimer was arrested for failing to appear in court to pay an old traffic ticket, leading to him paying $311.50 to settle that charge.

College coaches want more time, information for early draft entries
University of Alabama Coach Nick Saban and his counterpart at Arkansas, Bret Bielema, told reporters at the Southeastern Conference’s annual meetings Tuesday they’d like to see the NFL and NCAA pursue rule changes that would give underclassmen draft entries more flexibility to return to school if they may go undrafted or may be drafted later than initially thought.