When Terrell Suggs, the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon in late April, it was obviously a major blow to the defending AFC North Champion Baltimore Ravens.

But even though the injury could shift the balance of power in their division, Bengals running back Bernard Scott was in no mood to celebrate when he heard the news.

“That sucks,” said Scott.  “You don’t want to see anybody go down like that in the off-season.  That’s the nature of the game, but you don’t want anything bad to happen to anybody even though we go against him twice a year.”

While Suggs vows to be back on the field by November, Scott is simply hoping to be on the field more often.

Last year, Scott typically replaced Cedric Benson on the Bengals’ third offensive possession of each half and Cedric finished the season with 161 more carries than Bernard (273 to 112).  After electing not to re-sign the 29-year-old Benson in the off-season, the Bengals inked 26-year-old BenJarvus Green-Ellis to a reported 3-year, $9 million contract in March.  Green-Ellis shared carries in New England – without complaint – with Stevan Ridley and Danny Woodhead, and Scott is hoping that the Bengals adopt a similar approach.

“I’ve been hearing that we’re going to use a ‘running back by committee,’ so that’s exciting,” Scott told me.  “That’s going to help us last longer and give other people a chance to touch the ball.  We all have the same goal – just to get the ‘W’ so that’s all that matters.

“Going into my exit meeting (last year), Coach Lewis told me they were going to bring in running backs.  They have to make it a competition so you know that they are always going to bring in somebody.  It makes you work harder to compete for the job.”

The former sixth round draft pick out of Abilene Christian has rushed for exactly 1,000 yards in his first three seasons in the NFL and finished last season with a career-high 380 yards.  Bernard appears confident that he can make a bigger contribution in 2012.

“I feel like my opportunity is going to come,” said Scott.  “If I come into camp in shape and prepared to handle my business, I think that I’m going to get more opportunities.”

Baltimore will begin the season without Suggs.  Pittsburgh released aging stars Hines Ward, James Farrior, and Aaron Smith and is hampered by serious salary cap issues.  Are the youthful Bengals capable of topping the Ravens and Steelers and winning the AFC North for the second time in four years?

“I think we have one of the best quarterbacks and receivers in the game,” Bernard told me.  “We have a lot of young, hungry guys on our team and everybody has a lot that they want to prove.  We’re confident but we’re still hungry because we still have a lot to prove.  I’m looking for big things this year, so we’ll see what happens.”

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In February, near the end of a long interview with Marvin Lewis during the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, I asked him how Armon Binns progressed last year as a member of the Bengals practice squad.

“I think Armon made great strides,” said Lewis.  “Our offensive coaches at the end of the year wanted me to put him in the game.  They wanted to not only dress him but, ‘Can we start him?’  There’s another player that we identified last year as a good prospect.  We’re not afraid to play young players if the guy can do it.”

It didn’t take long for those words to get passed along to the former UC Bearcat.

“It felt good to know that the coaches had confidence in me – especially the head coach – and that the work that I was putting in at practice was paying off,” said Binns.  “It makes me feel good to know that the coaches here believe in me and think that I can help this team win games.”

He’s about to get his chance to prove them right.

After losing Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell as free agents, the Bengals have an opening for a #2 wide receiver opposite A.J. Green.  Binns will be one of several candidates battling for the spot, including recent third round draft pick Mohamed Sanu out of Rutgers, and fifth rounder Marvin Jones out of Cal.

“There’s an open spot out there and you just have to go out there and compete and go get a job,” Binns told me.  “I’m very eager.  I sat back for a year and got to learn and watch everybody.  It was kind of like a redshirt year for me and I’m just ready to get back out there and play the game again.”

“I got to sit back and watch how the NFL game goes and how to be a pro.  I watched how NFL corners are playing and how defenses are so much more advanced and sophisticated.”

Binns continued to study after the season, but the subject wasn’t just football.  Armon, who majored in criminal justice at UC with a minor in sociology, returned to the classroom in the off-season and will go through graduation ceremonies on June 8^th

“It’s huge,” said Binns with a grin.  “I’ve been in Cincinnati for so long and to come away with a degree is going to mean the world to me and my mom.  I was a student-athlete again so it’s all good.”

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Remember those rumors about Sean Kilpatrick leaving UC early for the NBA?  Well, the All-Big East guard says that he’ll not only be back for his junior and senior seasons – he wishes he could stay even longer.

“As many years as I can stay,” Sean told me.  “I’ve never said that I was going to the draft – it isn’t even in my mind.  The college life that we’re living now is something that is more important than the draft for me.  The NBA is going to be there, but I still have a lot of learning to do.  I still have to learn how to read defenses and on top of that, just to better myself.

“Another huge point is that I love Coach Cronin and I don’t want to leave him.  I want to stay here as long as I can.  That’s why I put it out there on Twitter to let everybody know that I’m not going anywhere.”

Except to the gym.

After leading the Bearcats in scoring as a sophomore at 14.3 points a game, Kilpatrick is dedicating his off-season to improving his ball-handling ability.

“A lot of dribbling drills,” said Kilpatrick.  “Coach told me that I need to work on my left hand a lot more and be able to handle the pressure when someone is guarding me.  He said, ‘Don’t concentrate on your jump shot so much – just worry about your handle.’  That was one of my biggest weaknesses.  This year it will be a lot different and I’ll be able to get to the rim with my left hand.”

During this part of the school year, the players are limited to two hours a week of on-court workouts with the coaching staff, but Sean puts in extra time on his own.

“I’m in here every day in order to get better,” Kilpatrick told me.  “I make it my business to be in here most of the time because this is the actual season for me.  This is where everything starts.

“I come late at night.  I have (graduate assistant) Scott Ratterman come open the gym up around 9 – 9:30.  He just tells me to hit the lights when I’m done.”

Kilpatrick’s dedication is not going unrecognized.  The Sporting News recently ranked Sean as the nation’s 6^th-best shooting guard (including number one in the Big East).

“It’s an honor, but it made me a little bit hungrier,” said Kilpatrick.  “I know that I can keep pushing myself to where I can be better than sixth.  I’m never satisfied with being below number one.  It made me more focused on what I need to do.”

And if he needs an additional push, Sean knows he’ll get it from Coach Cronin.

“He knows how to get me going,” said Kilpatrick.  “We both love winning and love the game so much.  If we lose, just know that something is going to get thrown, or somebody is going to curse.  I love him.  Since I was in prep school, he’s never changed with me or with any of the guys.  The loyalty and respect that I have for him is amazing.”

I asked Sean if there’s anything about Coach Cronin that Bearcat fans don’t know.

“Everyone thinks that he’s mean,” Sean said with a laugh.  “That’s because everyone sees Coach Cronin on the court and they don’t know how he is off the court.  He’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.  He’s polite, he knows exactly what he’s talking about every time, you can go to him for advice, and you can actually talk to him about anything.  He’s like a father figure to us when our dads aren’t around.  That’s what I love about him the most.”

It sure sounds like Sean plans to stick around.

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All Tony Pike wants is a chance – and he’s about to get one from his hometown team.

On Wednesday, the Bengals announced that Pike is among the unsigned players who will attend the team’s May 11-13 minicamp on a tryout basis.  After spending the 2010 season as a backup with the Carolina Panthers, the 26-year-old quarterback missed all of last year after having elbow surgery.

“I’ve been back in Cincinnati rehabbing for a long time and the Bengals reached out to my agent with some questions about my health and when I was going to get back to 100%,” said Pike.  “After that, it was just a matter of me getting healthy and the timing being right for the mini-camp.  It’s an unbelievable opportunity.  Growing up in Cincinnati and being a Bengals fan, it’s been a life-long dream to be a Bengal.  For them to give me that opportunity to come into mini-camp and see what I can do means a lot.”

After leading the UC Bearcats to a perfect regular season and trip to the Sugar Bowl as a senior, Pike was selected by Carolina in the 6^th round of the 2010 draft.  Tony appeared in one regular season game as a rookie, going 6-for-12 for 47 yards in a loss to New Orleans.

But last July, Pike needed surgery to fix a nerve injury in his right elbow.  When the first procedure didn’t correct the problem, the former Bearcat had a more extensive operation eight weeks ago.

“On the second surgery, they cut the muscle in my forearm and they tucked the nerve underneath the muscle,” said Pike.  “Then they sewed the muscle back together to protect that nerve from moving around.  It was a more painful procedure, but with my history at UC, it’s nothing that I haven’t been through before.  The end result was a lot better than the first procedure, so I’m really happy.

“I saw (Cincinnati Reds) Dr. Kremchek here in Cincinnati and he said he does this surgery every year on pitchers here.  He told me it’s something that pitchers come back stronger from and that’s how I feel right now.”

Pike broke his left arm in his junior and senior years at UC, but bounced back quickly to lead the Bearcats to back-to-back Big East Championships.  Tony says that he has completely recovered from his elbow injury and is ready to show the Bengals the powerful arm that tossed 29 touchdown passes and only 6 interceptions in his final college season.

“I feel great,” Pike told me.  “My strength and accuracy are back.  That was the biggest thing with the elbow – the nerve was causing my accuracy to go down a little bit, so with that being back, I feel great about my chance here.

“The frustrating thing about the nerve surgery was that we couldn’t really give teams a timetable for when I would be healthy.  The Bengals rookie mini-camp fell at just about the right time.  I just saw the doctor (Wednesday) to get cleared.  I’ve been throwing a lot and staying in shape.  I’ve actually been going over to Elder a little bit to throw to my brother and some of those receivers.  So, it’s been a long process and a slow process, but it’s all coming together at just the right time.”

Pike might seem like a longshot to make the Bengals roster, but keep in mind that he began the 2008 season as the fifth-string quarterback at UC before leading the team to the Orange Bowl.

All he needed then was a chance.

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It’s safe to say that my partner on the Bengals radio broadcasts did not expect the team to select an offensive guard with one of its two first round selections.

“I’m not sure that Mike Brown values a guard at 17 or 21,” said Dave Lapham on our draft preview show on 700 WLW.  “I’m not sure that he values a guard at 117 or 121.  I think the guard position is going to be addressed, but I’m not sure that it’s going to be addressed in that first round.”

But while Lap was stunned – and thrilled – when the Bengals traded down in the first round and selected Wisconsin’s Kevin Zeitler with the 27^th overall pick, the current leader of the Bengals offensive line says that he was not surprised when Cincinnati selected a guard in the first round for the first time in franchise history.

“It wasn’t really a shocker to me,” said left tackle Andrew Whitworth.  “From everyone I’ve talked to, the guy is very impressive – as a person and as a player.  Anytime we get a guy in the locker room that is a great person and player, I’m excited about it.”

Zeitler – and fellow first round pick Dre Kirkpatrick – arrived in Cincinnati for an introductory news conference on Friday and met Whitworth shortly after meeting the media as they had dinner together at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse.

Whitworth informed Zeitler that he hosts the offensive lineman at an annual mini-camp at his home in Louisiana and said that his new teammate made a good first impression.

“I see a guy who is serious about what he is going to have to do,” said Whitworth.  “He’s not overwhelmed and seems pretty determined.  I like that.  He’s definitely a guy that has a lot of character – that’s the first thing that you realize after a short conversation with him.  I’m excited about his future here and I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help be a part of him being successful.”

Offensive line coach Paul Alexander has made it clear that Zeitler will be a candidate to start at right guard, and Whitworth says he would not be worried about having a rookie start on the offensive line.

“I think it needs to be a realistic expectation for any player that is picked that high,” Whitworth told me.  “That needs to be your goal.  You don’t set the bar low – you set it high.  When I was a rookie, I can remember telling the media whenever they asked me that I was not trying to play like a rookie – I was trying to play like a veteran.  That’s what he has to do – set the bar high and go after it.”

Picking a guard in the first round might have been out of character for the Bengals, but the team is confident that it selected the right one.

“He fills a major need for us,” said offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.  “He’s one of the top guards on the board, in our opinion.  He’s tough, he’s strong, he’s physical, he’s smart — guys like that can only help your football team. It’s not a popular pick sometimes to take an offensive guard, but last time I checked, they play a lot of snaps on Sunday.”

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On April 6^th, the website NBAdraft.net started a mild panic among some UC basketball fans when it listed Sean Kilpatrick among the current college players who are likely to leave school early this year for the NBA draft.

Kilpatrick quickly put out the fire on his Twitter account.

BEARCATNATION ATTENTION PLEASE!!! I AM NOT LEAVING THE BEARCATNATION ANYTIME SOON! #BEARCATNATION4LIFE

— Sean Kilpatrick (@SeanKilpatrick_) April 7, 2012

It was a savvy use of social media as Kilpatrick quickly defused the rumor by communicating directly with the nearly 6,000 people that follow him on Twitter – many of whom promptly re-tweeted his message to thousands of others.

“I love Twitter and the fact that you get to speak to people across the world every day,” Kilpatrick told me.  “For example, I communicate with former Bearcat Kenny Satterfield nearly every day.   I’m happy that I have people like him constantly in my ear about staying focused.  That’s big.”

Former UC football star JK Schaffer (@Schaff37) is also a fan of Twitter who sends frequent tweets to more than 2,000 followers.

“It’s fun to reach out to people,” Schaffer said.  “You get to show fans your appreciation and you get to show your love for your team.  There are a lot of things that I really like about it.”

But social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are obviously an area of concern for Cincinnati’s head coaches.  According to a recent story in USA Today, Boise State, Mississippi State, and South Carolina are among the universities where coaches have banned or limited tweeting.

“In the age that we live in today, all it takes is one bad decision or choice of words and that lives forever with you,” said UC head football coach Butch Jones.  “It’s the age that we live in, so you try to educate them and make policies, just like you would with your own kids.

“One of the most powerful things that we did was bring in the National Football League’s Director of Player Development Troy Vincent.  He posted all of our players Tweets and knew how many of them were on there, and I think our kids were amazed at how much was out there.”

“Coach Jones definitely spends a lot of time teaching about social networking and how it can definitely get you in trouble,” said Schaffer.  “You can’t post things about your team that you shouldn’t be talking about – there are things that stay within the football family.  You have to learn to censor yourself and hold back your personal feelings on some things.”

“We don’t let anyone know what’s going on the locker room or what’s going on with the team, period,” said Kilpatrick.  “I think everyone has done a great job with that.”

While Kilpatrick does not share locker room secrets, he does keep followers informed about his daily activities and frequently states his love for the Cincinnati fan base.

I love Cincinnati and how they have supported me since day 1. This city is one of THEEE greatest cities in the world. #BeleeeDattt

— Sean Kilpatrick (@SeanKilpatrick_) April 14, 2012

“I appreciate all of the people that follow us on Twitter, because they come to our games and support us throughout the season,” said Kilpatrick.  “Besides being a basketball player, I’m just a person at the end of the day and I try to show everyone that you might know the Sean Kilpatrick that you see on the court, but you don’t know him off the court.”

Thanks to Twitter, we know that Kilpatrick will be back for his junior season, but if he does eventually become a professional athlete, he’ll already have experience in dealing with social media.  It’s one of benefits that Bearcat athletes receive by being taught to use Twitter and Facebook responsibly while they are still in school.

“What you have to make sure is that your players understand the ramifications that go along with Twitter,” said Coach Jones.  “There’s nothing private about any of that, and they have to understand the repercussions of their choice of words.”

“When you post things on social networks, you’re representing your university, your team, your coach, and yourself,” said Schaffer.

For most of his life, Gene Renard Atkins Jr, has been known as “Geno,” but in January, the Bengals defensive tackle picked up a new nickname:  “Pro Bowler” Geno Atkins.

“Some of my teammates call me that as a joke, but most people still just call me Geno,” Atkins said with a grin.

The 24-year-old from Pembroke Pines, FL had two tackles in the AFC’s 59-41 win and raved about the opportunity.

“I got to bring my family to Hawaii and it was a great experience,” Geno told me.  “I learned a lot from the older vets like Richard Seymour, Antonio Smith, and guys like that.”

Atkins earned the trip to Honolulu – and the new nickname – with a spectacular second season in the NFL.  In fact, the website ProFootballFocus.com calls Geno a “Sophomore Superstar” and said that only Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski is coming off of a better season from the 2010 draft class.

“He had a season very comparable to Ndamukong Suh’s 2010, only for some reason he didn’t have the same hype machine working for him,” said Pro Football Focus analyst Sam Monson.  “In 2010, Suh notched 11 sacks, 6 knockdowns and 24 hurries from 547 pass rushing snaps. This season, Atkins posted 8 sacks, 15 knockdowns and 26 hurries from only 475 pass-rushing snaps. Atkins was easily the most effective pass-rushing defensive tackle in the NFL last season, and the surprise to me was that he learned how to use his skills to his advantage in the run game as well.  Rather than waiting and reacting and often getting washed out by bigger linemen, he attacked against the run too, and was far more proactive that way.”

Atkins was a big reason why the Bengals finished seventh in the NFL’s total defense rankings last year.  Defensive lineman Frostee Rucker and Jonathan Fanene left as free agents, and safety Chris Crocker was released, but the nine of the team’s top 11 tacklers are back.

“We lost Frostee and Fanene and they were two key guys for us,” said Atkins.  “But being in this league, you know that it’s ‘Next guy up.’  We brought in two good guys (Jamaal Anderson and Derrick Harvey) that are going to take up the slack there.

“We know the potential that we have, where we can go, and what it takes to get there.  We’re all excited to get back to work and build on that success.”

In addition to his Pro Bowl trip, Atkins went on a 7-day cruise to the Caribbean last winter, but Geno sounded happy to return to Cincinnati last week for the start of the Bengals off-season conditioning program.

“It feels good to come back and see all of your teammates and friends,” said Atkins.  “We know that we’re going to build on something very important and try to get to the next level.”

Wouldn’t “Super Bowler” have a nice ring to it?

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Before becoming a Hall of Fame college basketball head coach, Jim Boeheim was the varsity golf coach at Syracuse University.

Mike Bajakian, the offensive coordinator for the UC football team, has a similar line in the early portion of his resume.

“I almost don’t want to admit this,” Bajakian told me with a laugh, “but in addition to coaching football and baseball, I was a head bowling coach at the high school level.”

Hey, it’s a sport where you throw the ball on every play right?

All kidding aside, when you look at Bajakian’s history as a football coach, it’s easy to see why he’s held in such high regard by UC head coach Butch Jones.

In 2001, Mike helped coach the punt rush at the University of Michigan.  The Wolverines blocked a school-record eight punts that year.

From 2004 to 2006, he was on the offensive staff for the Chicago Bears, culminating in a trip to Super Bowl XLI in his final season.

Since 2007, Bajakian has been the offensive coordinator under Jones at Central Michigan and Cincinnati.  More than 30 school records were set during their tenure at CMU, and at UC, the Bearcats have ranked in the top two in the Big East in scoring in each of the last two seasons.

“There isn’t anyone that I trust more than Mike Bajakian handling our offense,” said Coach Jones.  “We share the exact same beliefs and it’s a comfort level where we always know what the other person is thinking.  I think that comes with time spent working with each other.  He is of the highest character, he’s extremely competitive, and I can’t say enough about him.”

“Coach Bajakian doesn’t like to lose,” said Isaiah Pead.  “He’s not a big guy, but when he speaks, we all listen.  We all respect him and know that he wants to win just as bad as we do.”

Bajakian was a Division III quarterback at prestigious Williams College in Massachusetts – George Steinbrenner’s Alma mater – where he led the team to an unbeaten streak of 22 games (21-0-1).

“I think they accidently let me in,” said Bajakian.  “Small college football gives 5-foot-10; 165 pound backup high school quarterbacks a chance to play at the college level.  A 0-0 tie was the very anticlimactic end to my college playing career.”

In 2010 and 2011, Forbes Magazine ranked Williams College as the best undergraduate institution in the United States – ahead of every Ivy League university.  Bajakian majored in history but knew before graduation that he wanted to pursue a career in football.

“Since the day I realized that I wasn’t going to play for a living, I knew that I wanted to stay involved in the game and always thought that I would be a teacher and a coach,” Bajakian told me.  “Late in my college career, I got the itch to get into coaching at the college level and pursued it after two years in (high school) teaching.

“People often ask me why I coach and I tell them that I’m not qualified to do anything else.  But the reality of it is, I love the relationships.  There are so many emotional highs and lows that you go through as a coach that you develop really close relationships.  It’s not something that you can get in the everyday workforce – I truly believe that.”

Bajakian’s relationships with the players go beyond football.

“We get the opportunity to mentor young men who are still very impressionable and who are still developing their character and world view,” said Bajakian.  “I try to talk to them about quite a bit more than football and academics.  I gave a physics lesson in our meeting the other day to try to illustrate a point.”

“He’s well-rounded to say the least,” said Coach Jones.  “The great thing about Mike is that he is a student of the game.  We are in a CANI Principle business – Constant And Never Ending Improvement.  He is always doing that.”

“If you spend two minutes with him, you know that he is a very intelligent guy,” said Pead.  “Spend another two minutes with him, and you can tell that he knows a lot about football.  We’re blessed to have him and hopefully he can stick around.”

Bajakian says that becoming a head coach is one of his goals, but he appears to be in no hurry.

“For me, every day is about learning and growing professionally,” Mike told me.  “Honestly, I could be in no better place than right here in Cincinnati because I’m learning from the best coach in the country – I honestly mean that.  When it comes to motivating a team and getting so much out of players and coaches, I really believe that Butch Jones is the best in the country.”

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Here’s my favorite stat about Cincinnati’s talented young nucleus:  The Bengals sent four players to the Pro Bowl last year and Andy Dalton was the oldest. 

Here’s a look at the Bengals’ four Pro Bowlers that are all under the age of 25.

Andy Dalton:  24-years-old (birthday October 29th)

Geno Atkins:  24-years-old (birthday March 28^th)

Jermaine Gresham:  23-years-old (birthday June 16^th)

A.J. Green:  23-years-old (birthday July 31th)

But that’s not all.

There’s another potential Pro Bowler on the roster that is nearly seven months younger than A.J. Green – defensive end Carlos Dunlap.

Dunlap, who turned 23 on February 28^th, was among the most dominant pass rushers in the NFL last year before injuring his hamstring in week eight at Tennessee.

“Carlos Dunlap was on fire before that hamstring injury,” said ProFootballFocus.com analyst Sam Monson.  “At that point in the season he had racked up only three sacks, but he had 10 QB knockdowns and 24 pressures in only eight games. Essentially before going down with the injury, Dunlap was as devastating a force as there was in the league at rushing the passer.”

“I feel like I need a whole season that was like the way that I started last year,” Dunlap told me this week.  “I’m starting fresh and making sure that I am doing everything that I can to stay healthy.”

Prior to last season during the NFL lockout, Dunlap returned to the University of Florida to take classes toward finishing his degree.  But this off-season, he eschewed the classroom and went to the gym.

“I went down to Pete Bommarito (Performance Systems) where I trained for the combine,” said Dunlap.  “It was continued maintenance on my hamstring and I concentrated on training a little bit harder.  It was unfortunate that I had an injury and I want to make sure that I do everything in my power to prevent that from coming back.  I postponed school and focused on training because this is my job.”

Dunlap finished with 4.5 sacks in 12 games last year after setting a Bengals rookie record with 9.5 in 2010.  In 2012, Carlos aims to lead the NFL in sacks.

“That’s always been a childhood dream,” said Dunlap.  “As a competitor, you want to be the best at whatever you do.  I’m labeled as a pass rusher and I want to change that too.  I want to be known as an all-around defensive end, but I do want to lead the league in sacks and be ranked up there with the elite pass rushers.”

That’s not his only lofty goal.  Dunlap wants to join fellow 2010 draft pick Geno Atkins at the Pro Bowl.

“Carlos congratulated me before I went and said, ‘This year, I’m going to go with you.’” said Atkins.  “I’m rooting for him.”

“I’m jealous – I ain’t gonna lie, I’m jealous man,” said Dunlap.  “Geno earned it.  He had a great year and I don’t know why he wasn’t voted on to the first or second team (Atkins went as a first alternate because New England’s Vince Wilfork made the Super Bowl) .  But Geno is a Pro Bowler – they’re not going to say how he went.

“That’s a goal as well – to get there with Geno.  I’ve been telling Geno the whole off-season that we have to get there together this year.”

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The NFL draft begins in nine days and UC might have the necessary funds to renovate Nippert Stadium if head coach Butch Jones had a dollar for every phone call he’s received about the Bearcats’ pro prospects.

“NFL teams have left no stone unturned,” Jones told me.  “I’ve talked to just about every scout and a number of head coaches and general managers.  So have our position coaches, (strength coach) Dave Lawson, and right down to Keri Thoman who heads up our academics.  Teams have done their due diligence and it’s going to be a fun time for Bearcat Nation to see where they land.”

Isaiah Pead and Derek Wolfe are locks to be selected this year.  Pead boosted his stock by being named the MVP of the Senior Bowl and was among the fastest running backs at the NFL Scouting Combine when he clocked a 4.47 in the 40-yard dash.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder from team to team, and I’m hearing anywhere from second to third round with Isaiah,” said Coach Jones.

“He was under the radar until the Senior Bowl and he really blew up there,” said ESPN’s Todd McShay.  “He’s versatile, quick, and I think he has a chance to be in that third round range and a steal for an NFL team that’s looking for a versatile back.”

McShay’s fellow ESPN draft expert – Mel Kiper – recently tweeted that Pead would be a good choice for Tampa Bay if he is still available early in the third round.

What does Pead think of the speculation?

“I live in a bubble,” Isaiah told me.  “I’m still a college student and I don’t have cable or internet at home.  I just hang out with the guys and stay away from that.  You can’t get caught up in it because nobody really knows what goes on in the meeting rooms of NFL teams.  I used to have butterflies early in this process, but now my emotions have calmed down and I’m just praying for the best.”

While Pead is widely projected to be the first Bearcat selected, Kiper’s latest mock draft shows New England selecting Wolfe with the next-to-last pick in the first round.

“I love the versatility he can bring,” said Kiper.  “I projected Wolfe as a surprise first-round pick by the Patriots because a scheme-versatile team can use a guy like him, who can be a one-gap guy in a 3-4 or easily flip to a 4-3 defensive tackle up front.  I’ve seen him on some boards as low as the third round.  He should go higher.”

“I think Derek Wolfe’s stock is rising daily, which is a tribute to how hard he’s worked,” said Coach Jones.  “The thing I keep hearing is that he has the reputation for being the hardest-playing defensive lineman in college football last year.  I think that’s a tribute to (UC defensive line coach) Steve Stripling and to Derek for buying in.”

The other Bearcats who are most likely to be picked are defensive lineman John Hughes and tight end Adrien Robinson who clocked a 4.56 40-yard dash at 264 pounds at Cincinnati’s pro day.

“After about game four, John Hughes really came on,” said Jones.  “I think that he’s worked himself into a position of possibly being drafted.  And Adrien Robinson is really gaining great momentum going into the draft.”

J.K. Schaffer and Zach Collaros are generally not projected to be drafted, but could wind up in NFL training camps as free agents.

“I’m really proud of all of these individuals and how far they’ve come,” said Jones.  “We take great pride in our players being NFL-ready and I think you see that.  I think it’s a compliment to them, I think it’s a compliment to Dave Lawson, and I think it’s a compliment to our program.”

Connor Barwin, Brent Celek, Trent Cole, Kevin Huber, and Jason Kelce are among the former Bearcats who are playing big roles on their NFL teams and Pead hopes to join them.

On Saturday, I asked Isaiah where he will be during the draft.

“I’ll be in Columbus at my grandparents’ house with my family and friends and it’s an open invitation,” Pead said.  “You can come if you want to.”

I appreciate the offer, but I’ll proudly watch on TV.  Along with thousands of other Bearcat fans.

I’d love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net

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