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<title>Big C Pro Football Insider</title>
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<description>Big C Pro Football Insider: Articles and insights from the nomadic Big C</description>
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<copyright>Copyright 2008, BigCProFootball.com</copyright>
<lastbuilddate>Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:35:29 -0400</lastbuilddate>
<category>Sports</category>
<category>NFL</category>
<category>Football</category>
<category>NFL Draft</category>
<category>NFL Events</category>
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<title>Bengals receiver Caldwell ready to fight for job</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1146</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Cincinnati Bengals entered the offseason looking to find replacements for receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh and the late Chris Henry. The team would like to think it has addressed those needs after drafting Texas All-American Jordan Shipley and Dezmon Briscoe. Only time will tell.Shipley is being counted upon to contribute right away. He&amp;rsquo;s expected to challenge third-year receiver Andre Caldwell for the No. 3 position.Caldwell is open to the competition but is not ready to relinquish his duties without a fight. If he goes down, he&amp;rsquo;s going down swinging.&amp;ldquo;Competing is going to make everybody better,&amp;rdquo; Caldwell said in a recent interview. &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;m trying to make a name for myself this season by putting up big numbers. I want this to be a breakout season for me and be a key figure in the offense. So I&amp;rsquo;m up for the challenge.&amp;rdquo;The receiver dedicated the offseason to improving his game by becoming more explosive. Caldwell stole a page from teammate Chad Ochocinco&amp;rsquo;s book of workout regimens and trained as a boxer.&amp;ldquo;Boxing got me in the best shape of my life,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;I believe it will help me become more of an impact player this season. I had to take myself away from football and watch film. I watched a lot of film to find my strengths and weaknesses in order to improve.&amp;rdquo;The training appears to be paying off.Caldwell looked a lot quicker running routes during the team&amp;rsquo;s recent minicamp. He was in and out of his breaks quickly and displayed good straight-line speed to get deep. Caldwell showed some toughness over the middle making difficult catches in traffic. He also did a nice job running after the catch.&amp;ldquo;I feel like I&amp;rsquo;ve grown in the offense every year just by learning from the veterans,&amp;rdquo; Caldwell said. &amp;ldquo;Those guys have helped me step my game up. Now the coaches have to trust in me to make plays and get me the ball.&amp;rdquo;Consistency, or lack thereof, has been the receiver&amp;rsquo;s problem. During the season Caldwell had some critical turnovers and key dropped passes. He finished with 51 receptions for 432 yards and three touchdowns.One of the team&amp;rsquo;s goals this season is to have its passing game in the top 10. Therefore more will be expected of Caldwell providing he can hang on to his current roster spot. The receiver knows what it will take to get the job done.&amp;ldquo;I have to increase my productivity and prove to the coaches my worth,&amp;rdquo; Caldwell said. &amp;ldquo;The bar is set high for us this season. That&amp;rsquo;s the difference from when I first arrived in Cincinnati. We&amp;rsquo;re not going to be satisfied unless we get to the Super Bowl and win it. Anything other than that is a failure for us. I&amp;rsquo;m ready to do my part.&amp;rdquo;Do you love Fantasy Football? Click here: ]]></description>
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<title>Bengals boast dangerous backfield</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1145</link>
<description><![CDATA[Their running backs don&amp;rsquo;t get much national publicity but the Cincinnati Bengals might have the best one-two-three backfield punch in the NFL this season.Cedric Benson, Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard work well together, and with help from a well-coordinated offensive line, they can be a dangerous unit. Guiding the group is longtime NFL coach Jim Anderson, a consummate professional and supreme motivator whose 25 years of experience in the league speaks for itself. Any diehard Bengal fan and or football enthusiast who gets to meet the coaches in training camp should seek out Anderson. The man is a great evaluator and knows the game like Elvis knows hits. He&amp;rsquo;s always more than willing to share his knowledge. Now to the stable of running backs. The backfield is made up of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Good Whoever said white men can&amp;rsquo;t jump obviously hasn&amp;rsquo;t seen Brian Leonard hurdle guys like Edwin Moses. Leonard is an outstanding short-yardage runner with the ability to run on the perimeter. He&amp;rsquo;s a tough guy with tremendous versatility, catching 30 passes out of the backfield a year ago. Leonard is expected to play an expanded role in the offense for obvious reasons. The Bad Benson is coming off his most productive season as a pro. He rushed for 1,251 yards and six touchdowns. He finished the 2009 season as the eighth-leading rusher in the league. There is no reason to believe he won&amp;rsquo;t repeat that performance or do better. Bottom line: Benson has the physical skills to make plays. That&amp;rsquo;s bad news for opposing defenses. The Ugly Scott has the instincts, speed, quickness, athleticism and toughness to make big plays. The way I see it, anytime you have a player who can make big plays on a consistent basis you have something special. The Bengals believe they have that in Scott. &amp;ldquo;Bernard came in as a rookie last year and did a good job for us,&amp;rdquo; Anderson said. &amp;ldquo;We&amp;rsquo;re counting on him to be bigger and better than he was last season. He will play a bigger role in what we do.&amp;rdquo; Things could get real ugly for defenses if Scott can live up to expectations. There is no doubt the Bengals are building a respectable ground game.]]></description>
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<title>Bryant seen as missing piece to Bengals’ offense</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1144</link>
<description><![CDATA[CINCINNATI &amp;mdash; The Cincinnati Bengals opened their three-day minicamp on Tuesday, Jun 15 to a spectacular display of media coverage. Reporters came out of the woodwork to cover the event and get a look at arguably the most improved team in the NFL. They were&amp;#39;t disappointed because there was plenty to see on Day 1. To the surprise of no one, Chad Ochocinco received much of the attention from the media after missing time in the team&amp;#39;s OTA, which isn&amp;#39;t uncommon for the controversial receiver. Ochocinco didn&amp;#39;t miss a beat. The receiver appeared to be in mid-season form catching the ball and making plays. Maybe the most impressive guy on the field Tuesday was a newcomer, wide receiver Antonio Bryant. He made a couple of difficult catches in traffic look easy and demonstrated superb blocking skills. The receiver could be the missing piece in the puzzle for the Bengals on offense. &amp;quot;It was a good first day for me,&amp;quot; Bryant said. &amp;quot;It was a lot more organized than I was accustomed. I believe things will get a little more potent as camp rolls on. Everyone looked really sharp,&amp;quot; Bryant said. It&amp;#39;s only the beginning, but the Bengals are banking on a productive season from the receiver. The team signed Bryant to a multi-million dollar contract with incentives this offseason. &amp;quot;My role on this team is to make plays.&amp;quot; Bryant said. &amp;quot;I&amp;#39;m here to fill a void for something the offense lacked in the past and contribute. I will do whatever the coaches ask me to do to the best of my ability. I have a long-term deal with the club and plan to honor that by helping the team win games. &amp;quot;One thing about the league, it doesn&amp;#39;t matter what the contract says. Everybody has the opportunity to get in, but you have to have staying power. I have to go out there and work hard every day and prove myself.&amp;quot; When the Bengals signed Bryant a number of questions were raised. Can Ochocinco and Bryant co-exist in the same offense? Will there be enough balls to go around with a plethora of receivers already on board? Will Bryant trade in his uniform for some tight disco pants and try to steal Ochocinco&amp;#39;s thunder on &amp;quot;Dancing with the Stars&amp;quot;? Bryant addressed the most important questions inquiring minds want to know. &amp;quot;Chad and I are two guys who want to win a championship,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;The chemistry between us and Carson [Palmer] is great. The team made the move to sign me for a reason. They chose me because I&amp;#39;m a guy who fit their formula in a quest to win a championship.&amp;quot;]]></description>
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<title>Bengals counting heavily on Henry</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1143</link>
<description><![CDATA[This time last year, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was entering a dark period of his NFL career. He was facing misdemeanor charges of assault and criminal damaging, as well as suspension from the league for his latest run-in with the law.Henry&amp;rsquo;s frequent incidents and suspensions have been well documented. After the last one, his playing career looked rather bleak. Henry was released by the Bengals last April following his arrest.However, just like a cat with nine lives, Henry survived. The charges against him were dismissed and the Brown family believed in Henry enough to bring him back despite what many skeptics had to say. The receiver ended up serving a four-game suspension before returning to the playing field.A year later, it&amp;rsquo;s now time for the receiver to pay his dues.During a phone interview with Henry on Wednesday, May 27, he talked about the changes in his life and how he plans to help the Bengals win and redeem himself in the process.&amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;m older and more mature about everything now,&amp;rdquo; Henry said. &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s like I did a complete turnaround with my life. I feel a different vibe from the coaches and it seems like they show me a little more respect. They know that they can trust me now. It&amp;rsquo;s all good things going on with me.&amp;rdquo;Henry turned 26 on May 17 and is entering his fifth season with the Bengals. His plate has been full these days personally and professionally. He is engaged and has a wedding date set for March 6, 2010.Henry said his four kids, ranging from ages 4 to 6 months, take up a lot of his time. He went on to say that he&amp;rsquo;s focused on his family, football and doing what it takes to be successful in life.You will no longer find Henry at the club hanging with the posse, but instead at an area park playing football with the neighborhood kids.There is no denying that Henry&amp;rsquo;s off-field antics have overshadowed his talent on the field, but he&amp;rsquo;s looking to change all of that this season.&amp;ldquo;It is definitely time for me to show the type of person and ballplayer I really am,&amp;rdquo; Henry said. &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;ve been working hard on and off the field. I&amp;rsquo;m real focused on what I need to be doing to raise my game to the next level. That&amp;rsquo;s what I plan on doing and hopefully this will be a big year for me and the team.&amp;rdquo;The Bengals are looking for the type of production they received from Henry during the 2006 season when he was the team&amp;rsquo;s home-run hitter. The receiver averaged 16.8 yards per catch and hauled in nine touchdowns. With Henry at his best it could get real ugly for opposing defenses. He could be the key to a successful passing game.The receiver has been a model citizen this offseason and it appears he has learned from his many mistakes. It&amp;rsquo;s like a bell went off in his head saying it&amp;rsquo;s time to wake up. And the coaching staff has taken note.Receivers coach Mike Sheppard, who is heading into his third season with the Bengals, on Thursday shed some light on the transformation of Henry.&amp;ldquo;Everybody understands the past and I think Chris has moved on from that,&amp;rdquo; Sheppard said. &amp;ldquo;What I&amp;rsquo;ve seen in my first couple of years here were things other than football. Now it&amp;rsquo;s all about football for Chris. It&amp;rsquo;s being here working in the offseason program and getting better with his peers and quarterbacks.&amp;ldquo;So in that respect, I think he&amp;rsquo;s made great progress. Also, that translates on the field to where you don&amp;rsquo;t have the same distractions that limits one&amp;rsquo;s production. Chris is focused professionally, and I think he has grown up.&amp;rdquo;Sheppard said Henry has been working out of the X-receiver position in Chad Ochocinco&amp;rsquo;s absence from volunteer workouts. He said Henry&amp;rsquo;s ultimate role is to compete with Ochocinco and newcomer Laveranues Coles for a starting position. Of course, if Henry fails to unseat Ochocinco or Coles he will then have to compete for the No. 3 receiver position.This should make for an interesting competition during training camp. As for Henry, he&amp;rsquo;s not ready to relinquish his role without a fight.&amp;ldquo;No one has a guaranteed spot at the wide receiver position,&amp;rdquo; Henry said. &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s like the best man gets the job and there is a lot of competition out there. I&amp;rsquo;m approaching it like it&amp;rsquo;s my job to lose and will give it my all to be in the lineup. I want to help this team get to the playoffs and maybe even the Super Bowl, which is the ultimate goal.&amp;ldquo;The sky is the limit for us this season. (Quarterback) Carson (Palmer) is back and he is better than ever. He encourages all the receivers to step up their game, and I&amp;rsquo;m ready to do just that. That&amp;rsquo;s the deal right now with me.&amp;rdquo;]]></description>
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<title>Bengals safety Williams committed to perform</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1142</link>
<description><![CDATA[When the Cincinnati Bengals signed veteran safety Roy Williams this offseason fans knew instantly the impact player the team was adding on defense. But what Bengal fans might be intrigued to learn is the high standard that the player holds himself to both on and off the field. While many of the league&amp;rsquo;s players are off vacationing and resting up before training camp opens, Williams is in Cincinnati hard at work training with Clif Marshall, performance director of Ignition Athletics Performance Group in Mason, Ohio. It was at Ignition where I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Williams about the things that are important to him. One of the first things I learned was his commitment to playing at a high level for the Bengals. &amp;ldquo;I had all the vacation I needed sitting out from football last season,&amp;rdquo; Williams said. &amp;ldquo;I felt that it was more important for me to get back in shape and get where I need to be. Our strength coach, Chip Morton, told me about Clif&amp;rsquo;s energy and that&amp;rsquo;s why I&amp;rsquo;m here. It&amp;rsquo;s a good fit for me and I hope to make the most of it.&amp;rdquo; Williams missed 13 games last season due to a broken forearm. Before that, he was a five time Pro Bowl selection (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). The individual accolades seem to mean very little to Williams at this point in his career. He&amp;rsquo;s more focused on the here and now. &amp;ldquo;I am very blessed to have some Pro Bowls under my belt, but I don&amp;rsquo;t get caught up in the hoopla of being a Pro Bowl safety,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;It was an honor and I appreciate it, but that&amp;rsquo;s the past. I can&amp;rsquo;t worry about what happened then. I have to be able to produce on Sundays for the Bengals when they need me to perform.&amp;quot; Williams played for Mike Zimmer, now the Bengals&amp;#39; defensive coordinator, when the two were together in Dallas. &amp;ldquo;I don&amp;rsquo;t want people thinking that just because I played under coach Zimmer in Dallas that I&amp;rsquo;m his boy. If he tells me to shut up I have to listen. I&amp;rsquo;m working and fighting for this job. There&amp;rsquo;s nothing given to me and I am one of the guys trying to make the team. I just want to contribute. I&amp;rsquo;m no better than anyone else on this team. I&amp;rsquo;m not coming in here thinking that I&amp;rsquo;m hot stuff and about to run things. I can be on the backseat and end up third-string.&amp;rdquo; Williams will be competing against the likes of Chris Crocker, Chinedum Ndukwe, Marvin White, Kyries Hebert and Corey Lynch during training camp. &amp;ldquo;You always have to come into situations humbled and understand your role,&amp;rdquo; Williams said. &amp;ldquo;You&amp;rsquo;re in here competing for a job to make the team better. If you&amp;rsquo;re not making the team better you have to take a backseat or you&amp;rsquo;re going to be out of here. I just want to be able to help and play to the level I was playing under Zim.&amp;rdquo; Williams had some of the best years of his seven-year career under Zimmer. If minicamp was any indication of the role Williams will play in the Bengals defense this season, opposing offenses had better beware. It was on one play during run drills where a small hole opened up along the line and Williams zoomed past linebacker Dhani Jones to make the play. Jones looked at the safety in amazement as if to say where the heck did you come from? Williams, of course, was just doing what he was brought in to do, make plays. Williams is a player that leads by example and other players feed off his energy. This little light of mine We often see athletes praying before games or pointing to the heavens after making a fantastic play. What does it all mean and is it sincere? Outwardly expressing one&amp;rsquo;s Christian beliefs is deemed taboo in everyday life, but Williams has no qualms sharing his faith. I first became acquainted with Williams at Paul Brown Stadium where we crossed paths in the tunnel after minicamp. He was wearing a t-shirt that read &amp;ldquo;I love my church.&amp;rdquo; In fact, you can also find him on Twitter delivering the inspirational word of God. &amp;ldquo;I don&amp;rsquo;t shy away from my Christianity,&amp;rdquo; Williams said. &amp;ldquo;When people give me a compliment I say glory to God. Without him I wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be recognized for my talent if God wasn&amp;rsquo;t inside me. It is obvious, glory to God first for me.&amp;rdquo; Williams doesn&amp;rsquo;t proclaim to be some modern day saint, but tries to live his life staying true to the word. &amp;ldquo;You&amp;rsquo;re either on the winning team which is God or the losing team which is the Devil,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;ve been on the losing team before and once I switched over to the winning team life became a little easier, but at the same time became a little harder. Once you make that push to do right, Satan gets mad. &amp;ldquo;In 2004, when I rededicated myself to Christ, that&amp;rsquo;s when I caught the most persecution. That&amp;rsquo;s when the media started talking and fans started saying, &amp;lsquo;Roy got soft because he gave his life to Christ&amp;rsquo;. It&amp;rsquo;s not that I got soft. I&amp;rsquo;m not going to let words hurt me or deter me from doing what I love to do and that is love God and play football.&amp;rdquo; Before the change in Williams&amp;rsquo; life he recalled a time when he used to carry $10,000 in his pocket. He was flashy, wearing expensive jewelry and flew all over the country to be a part of what he called the &amp;lsquo;in crowd.&amp;rsquo; Williams said he had to attend all the big parties and award ceremonies but never drank or smoked. It was just all about having a good old time. It wasn&amp;rsquo;t until Williams walked back into his church in Dallas, Texas that he had a humbling experience. &amp;ldquo;I felt the love,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;They had men&amp;rsquo;s fellowship on Friday and it was all of us coming together getting the word, laughing and joking around. It was something to do rather than going out on Friday nights. That was awesome for me and just being a part of something positive was the best for me. I had a great transformation and am happy where I am.&amp;rdquo; Last stop Williams was drafted by Dallas with the eighth overall pick in the 2002 draft and released by the team this offseason upon his request. A number of teams showed interest in the former Pro Bowler, but none more so than the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles where looking to replace longtime safety Brian Dawkins who bolted to Denver during free agency. Williams passed on more lucrative offers from other teams and signed with Cincinnati. &amp;ldquo;I really wasn&amp;rsquo;t moved by any team until coach Zim called me,&amp;rdquo; Williams said. &amp;ldquo;It wasn&amp;rsquo;t about riches. I feel this defense has a lot of upside. To do the things they did under coach Zim last year it&amp;rsquo;s only going to get better. I&amp;rsquo;m really looking forward to this season. I&amp;rsquo;m very excited to step in and be a part of what&amp;rsquo;s going to happen here.&amp;rdquo; When asked if he wanted to finish his career in Cincinnati, Williams didn&amp;rsquo;t mix words. &amp;ldquo;I do,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;It just depends on how well the season goes. I would love to be back here. In fact, I&amp;rsquo;m going to claim it. It&amp;rsquo;s going to happen. I don&amp;rsquo;t want to be anywhere else. I&amp;rsquo;m very comfortable here and I feel the people are great. I&amp;rsquo;m here for a reason, to play football.&amp;rdquo; ]]></description>
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<title>Exec with Dayton ties has Texans poised to contend</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1141</link>
<description><![CDATA[The New England Patriots are admired for their team-building efforts, so it&amp;rsquo;s not surprising when another franchise attempts to copy them. Meet the Houston Texans, who appear to be gaining some ground in the NFL by adopting a similar decision-making and draft philosophy under the leadership of Rick Smith, a Dayton Meadowdale High School graduate. Smith, the Houston general manager, has spearheaded the team&amp;rsquo;s turnabout since taking over for Charley Casserly following a 2-14 season in 2005. The Texans improved to 6-10 the next year, then went 8-8 in 2007 and 2008. During a recent phone interview, Smith, at 38 the youngest GM in the league, shared his philosophy on building a franchise as well as expectations for the team&amp;rsquo;s future. &amp;ldquo;Obviously, it&amp;rsquo;s an exciting time for us because from a philosophical standpoint this is the way that we want to build our football team &amp;mdash; through the draft,&amp;rdquo; Smith said. &amp;ldquo;What that means is having success on draft day and further down the road it becomes important to lock those young players up. &amp;ldquo;This is the time of year where we really have an opportunity to get our football team right. You have a couple of opportunities to get better. One is free agency and the second one is the draft.&amp;rdquo; The team addressed some key areas on defense during free agency by re-signing a number of its own players, then had what looks like a strong draft, snagging Southern Cal linebacker Brian Cushing in the first round and Cincinnati defensive end/linebacker/tight end Connor Barwin, perhaps the hottest prospect going into the draft, in round two. &amp;ldquo;The communication between our scouting department and coaching staff has worked very well,&amp;rdquo; Smith said. &amp;ldquo;I like how well our process has gone this year. I can start to see some of the benefits from the two staffs working hard together. With that, I expect us to have success.&amp;rdquo; The Texans seem to be on the cusp of challenging for their first AFC South title. They won five of their last six last season. &amp;ldquo;We&amp;rsquo;re in a very tough division,&amp;rdquo; Smith said. &amp;ldquo;We understand that in order to achieve our goals we&amp;rsquo;re going to have to be competitive in our division and win our division. It&amp;rsquo;s a physical brand of football we play and we like to establish a mindset and work ethic of what it takes to win in this league.&amp;rdquo; Smith went on to say that the team is maturing and learning how to win and that should translate into a playoff spot. This year&amp;rsquo;s Arizona Cardinals? Don&amp;rsquo;t be surprised if the Texans are christened with that distinction as the season draws closer.]]></description>
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<title>Boston College DT Ron Brace in draft day demand</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1140</link>
<description><![CDATA[One half of Boston College&amp;#39;s defensive tackle duo, Ron Brace is thought to be a rare commodity in this year&amp;#39;s NFL draft. He is believed to be the only one of his kind at the Nose Tackle position, a position hard to find and unique in itself.Aware of the shortage, NFL teams are really starting to take notice of this monster in the middle.Brace is drawing interest from a number of teams that include Tampa Bay, New Orleans and Denver. He has a private workout scheduled with the Broncos later this week.Another team said to have some interest is the Detroit Lions after trading their top defensive tackle Cory Redding to the Seattle Seahawks. Brace, who is an Albert Haynesworth type tackle, would be an ideal fit in Jim Schwartz&amp;#39;s defense. Schwartz coached Haynesworth when they were both with the Tennessee Titians.Brace&amp;#39;s agent Nate Haber of Players Rep Sports Management commented recently on what sets his client apart from the field.&amp;quot;Ron&amp;#39;s an interesting prospect because he&amp;#39;s really the only true nose tackle in this draft that warrants a first-day draft grade,&amp;quot; Haber said.&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;If you want that big run stuffer, a mauler who will collapse the pocket and occupy several linemen, then he&amp;#39;s your guy.&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;It&amp;#39;s exciting because we&amp;#39;ve received just as much interest from 4-3 teams as we have from 3-4 teams.&amp;nbsp; When you have 32 potential employers in need of your services, things are good.&amp;quot;ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay supports the agent&amp;#39;s statement on the D-tackle position.&amp;quot;Guys like Mississippi&amp;#39;s Peria Jerry and [Missouri&amp;#39;s] Evander Hood are all 3-technique, undersized guys,&amp;quot; said McShay. &amp;quot;So if you don&amp;#39;t get Brace in the first two rounds, you&amp;#39;ll be looking for backup guys in the fourth, fifth or sixth round.&amp;quot;That said Brace could very easily be the second D-tackle off the board in the first round behind teammate B.J. Raji due to his versatility to play either tackle position.Brace yourself The 6-foot-3, 330-pound Brace is a smash-mouth player who is tough in the trenches. He&amp;#39;s a bonafide run-stuffer but can get penetration during gap assignments to wreak havoc in the backfield.He&amp;#39;s explosive off the snap and very athletic for a guy his size, showing outstanding agility and quickness to angle and stunt.Brace demonstrates solid hand technique and packs a powerful hand punch. However, he will need to continue to develop on his pass-rushing technique early in his career.Brace shows good pursuit; does a great job shedding blocks and anchors extremely well. A large part of Raji&amp;#39;s success could be attributed to Brace who saw a lot of double-teams.The Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff marveled over the player&amp;#39;s ability and intelligence when they coached him at the Senior Bowl in January.Bottom line, Brace has a tremendous work ethic and would be a force in the middle of any D-line.Downtime When Brace is not wreaking havoc on the playing field he&amp;#39;s following in his father&amp;#39;s (Ron Brace II) footsteps, working with troubled youths in his community.&amp;quot;I think a lot of youths are being misled by thinking that a life of crime is the only way to get out of a bad situation in life,&amp;quot; Brace said in a recent phone interview. &amp;quot;But realistically they&amp;#39;re digging themselves a bigger hole. They need someone to teach them that there is a better way to make a life for them.&amp;quot;Brace learned at an early age that crime doesn&amp;#39;t pay. As a youngster, he was brought to Westfield Youth Services Center where his father worked, every weekend for a reality check. He saw a lot of his childhood chums there in confinement during the visits and knew right away that this was not the life for him.Brace said anytime an opportunity presents itself to speak to the kids he&amp;#39;s there, because many of them come from the same area of Springfield, Massachusetts where he grew up.&amp;quot;Some of these youths are coming to believe that if they&amp;#39;re not making it in school or sports then that&amp;#39;s the end. That&amp;#39;s not true. They&amp;#39;re just being fed the wrong ideals on what life is about. So a lot of them think that life is about going out and hanging with gangs, smoking marijuana, drinking, and thinking that&amp;#39;s the life. When in reality it&amp;#39;s really not. This is wide spread throughout the country and not just in the area I come from.&amp;quot;I think these kids need a better role model than I would say a rapper,&amp;quot; Brace said. &amp;quot;They really need someone who comes from their area and will give them a more realistic view on how they can make it in life. Not everyone is going to be a rapper. Most rappers who are successful are talking about a life where you&amp;#39;re in the club all night, poppin&amp;#39; bottles, selling this and that to everybody, and kids are being made to believe that this is a life of success. They&amp;#39;re just selling lies. The kids need to be fed something truthful and I&amp;#39;m willing to do that.&amp;quot;Brace&amp;#39;s passion for helping troubled youth is equal or greater than his passion for the game of football.Brace is a well-rounded individual both on and off the field. He would be an asset to any team who choices to draft him.]]></description>
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<title>Bengals head coach inspires at Combine</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1139</link>
<description><![CDATA[INDIANAPOLIS &amp;mdash; The Cincinnati Bengals have been scrutinized more than any other franchise in the NFL for the way the organization conducts business. From contract negotiations to draft day blunders the list goes on.Just when fans think the team has turned the corner, the Bengals miss that bend in the road and continue driving towards another losing season. 4-11-1 brings up painful memories.What will it take for the Benagls to reach the next plateau? What changes have to be made to get this team winning again? I&amp;#39;ll give you one. For starters team owners may want to give head coach Marvin Lewis a bit more control. He has a clue on how to get the job done unlike some others.I had the chance to sit in on Lewis&amp;#39; interview with local reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday as he answered questions about the team. For me, I was pleasantly surprised at what I heard. I couldn&amp;#39;t help but get caught up in what the coach was preaching.Evaluating prospects; the perfect fit &amp;quot;I think when you&amp;#39;re drafting any player you want to have something that he can do right away as a rookie and be can be successful at,&amp;quot; Lewis said. &amp;quot;For me, that&amp;#39;s the most important thing. It&amp;#39;s up to us as coaches and as an organization to project a player. You have to be able to provide the niche for that guy to be successful when he comes in to do something.&amp;quot;I don&amp;#39;t care what it is, whether it&amp;#39;s carrying the water bottles out on the field. He has to be able to do something he&amp;#39;s comfortable doing when he was on his campus. The other stuff he knows is going to be learned over time.&amp;quot;Lewis said there are certain things when you watch players on tape that make you say, &amp;#39;Wow, that guy can do that&amp;#39;. The coach&amp;#39;s philosophy is to provide players with an opportunity to perform at a high-level once he enters the pros.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;You pick players for a certain reason,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;There was something that stood out in your mind on what they were doing on their college tape and you have to provide them with that avenue to get them in there.&amp;quot;Lewis seeks perfection from everyone. Water boy included.Senior Bowl helpful&amp;quot;It gives you a little head start on things and a little better feel,&amp;quot; the coach said. &amp;quot;I know how 40 some odd guys are going to compete and work. I have a little better feel for how the other guys are going to work because I watched them practice.&amp;quot;Being around our team I had a better idea of how they function as young men than I would have if I had someone else tell me about it. I had the chance to maybe observe them a little more. I watched the interaction with the coaches and families, which is important as you go down the line.&amp;quot;Coach Lewis said that coaching the Senior Bowl was a small head start for the Bengals, but the Combine is where the real evaluations begin.The Draft Many fans are lobbying for the Bengals to select the best available offensive tackle with the sixth overall pick in the draft, but it is believed that the team will be looking for a true impact player with the pick either on offense or defense.The one name that has surfaced over the weekend in association with the Bengals draft pick is Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno. According to one NFL scout, Moreno would not only bolster the Bengals running game but also the passing game should they lose one or two of their receivers. He called the running back electrifying and a game-breaker.Moreno ran some slow 40-times at the Combine, but the fact that he added 10-pounds of muscle to his frame since Georgia&amp;#39;s last game could have played a large part in the poor performance.As for the team picking an offensive tackle with the first pick, I wouldn&amp;#39;t bet on it.When asked about this year&amp;#39;s crop of offensive linemen Lewis didn&amp;#39;t seem overly impressed with the pool of talent.&amp;quot;I have not seen all the prospects, but the total group is probably a pretty good group,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#39;t know that there&amp;#39;s the standout, a franchise guy type player, but maybe I&amp;#39;m wrong. Generally guys go up and down, but I think in the total group this is a particularly good group.&amp;quot;Unappreciated in CincyI think it&amp;#39;s funny how Lewis is so well respected around the league for his body of work in the NFL, but seems to receive little or no respect in Cincinnati.Nearly every new NFL coach, Jim Schwartz (Lions), Rex Ryan (Ravens), that stepped up to the podium at the Combine paid homage to Lewis for impacting their lives not only as coaches but as human beings.I think it is time for the Bengals organization to recognize what they have in their head coach and let the man run the ship. The window of opportunity could be closing for this team and they are in need of a quick turn around.What&amp;#39;s that saying? You don&amp;#39;t know a good thing until it&amp;#39;s gone.&amp;nbsp;]]></description>
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<title>BC defensive tackles impress Senior Bowl coaches</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1138</link>
<description><![CDATA[MOBILE, Ala. &amp;mdash; If the Cincinnati Bengals are in the market for a defensive tackle in this year&amp;#39;s draft, expect the team to look no further than the two monsters they are coaching here in Mobile.Boston College defensive tackles B.J. Raji (6-foot-2, 334 pounds) and Ron Brace (6-3, 324) are having a phenomenal week of practice at the Senior Bowl. They are having their way with the North squad offensive linemen and are tough to ignore.The behemoth tackles have been very disruptive and dominating in just about every drill. Raji has collapsed the interior line like a bulldozer and is living in the backfield. His counterpart, Brace, has shown a quick first step, good hand technique and explosion at the point of attack.North squad teammate offensive tackle Trevor Canfield (Cincinnati) said after practice on Tuesday, Jan. 20, that he&amp;#39;s used to blowing D-linemen off the line 10 yards or more, but with the BC tackles, we&amp;#39;re talking one maybe 2 yards. He said they are a force and tough to move.Both tackles are strong and powerful and feed off one another. They are the two top defensive tackles on display. Raji&amp;#39;s stock is on the rise, and he could end up being a top-10 pick if he tests out well for scouts.Louisville center Eric Wood, who the Bengals are believed to have their eye on, has come under mixed reviews during drills this week. However, he continues to solidify his draft status as one of the top prospects at the position. Many NFL scouts feel that Wood is more of a gamer than practice freak.The former Cincinnati Elder High School football star is a hard-nosed player who is extremely tough in the trenches. He&amp;#39;s a mauler and warrior. Wood is a versatile lineman with decent lateral movement, anchors well and shows good overall technique.Virginia Tech center Ryan Shuman caught some eyes in Wednesday&amp;#39;s practice when he got big Brace on the ground on a couple plays.Acquisition of a center is a top priority for the Bengals.According to sources, there have been no discussions between the Bengals organization and representatives for free-agent center Eric Ghiaciuc regarding a new contract.In case you&amp;#39;re wondering who the Bengals have their eye on in Mobile, it&amp;#39;s simple. Everyone!&amp;nbsp;]]></description>
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<title>Javon Ringer could be draft's pound-for-pound best back</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1137</link>
<description><![CDATA[Chaminade Julienne High School running back, Javon Ringer put up some impressive numbers throughout his illustrious career while playing football at Michigan State. He finished his career as the Spartans&amp;rsquo; all-time leader in all-purpose yards (5,349) and second all-time leading rusher (4,351 yards) to go along with a list of other accomplishments. There is no denying the legacy Ringer leaves behind will be tough for any running back to duplicate.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;With his college football days now over, Ringer is ready to embark on a life in the NFL, but things have gotten off to a slow start for the promising back in terms of the draft process. Ringer had good showing at the NFL Scouting Combine last month, but his performance was nothing like what fans have come to expect from the 2008 Heisman Trophy candidate. Ringer did 23 reps of 225-pounds on the bench press and he ran in the 4.5 range in the 40-yard dash. He posted the third fastest time among running backs in the 20-yard shuttle running it in 4.11 seconds. These are respectable numbers for a player who is coming off knee injury sustained during the regular season.The running back tore the meniscus in his left knee during the game against Michigan on October 25, 2008 and played out the season with the injury. He had surgery in January after the team&amp;rsquo;s bowl game.During a phone interview with Ringer after the workout in Indy, he was forthcoming about his performance at the Combine and what he must show teams before draft day. &amp;ldquo;Going into the Combine I knew I wasn&amp;rsquo;t 100 percent,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;I was trying to stay confident thinking that I could put up the same numbers I know I can, but that wasn&amp;rsquo;t the case. I tried to explain that to all the NFL coaches because I just had knee surgery five weeks ago. While everyone else was training I was rehabbing and I wanted them to know that. Granted, I didn&amp;rsquo;t put up the numbers I know I can, but that was simply because I wasn&amp;rsquo;t 100 percent.&amp;rdquo;Ringer went on to say that his surgically repaired knee was only 80-85 percent while performing in Indianapolis and that scouts were impressed with the effort.Even with an impeccable resume Ringer finds himself looking to prove to NFL scouts that he&amp;rsquo;s worthy of first-round consideration in April&amp;rsquo;s draft. He will have the opportunity to showcase his skills once again before scouts at the school&amp;rsquo;s Pro Day March 13 and he hope to be 100 percent. He&amp;rsquo;s out to prove to teams that he belongs among the elite backs entering the draft. &amp;ldquo;I always have something to prove,&amp;rdquo; Ringer said. &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;ll be a rookie and starting all over. With all the great numbers I put up in high school and in college, now I have to be able to prove that I can produce in the NFL. &amp;ldquo;There&amp;rsquo;s always something you need to improve on. I&amp;rsquo;m not the one who gets complacent. I believe every year I am going to have to prove myself. That&amp;rsquo;s just having a good work ethic and drive to be one of the best.&amp;rdquo;There is no question the running back has the talent and skills to be successful in the NFL and could help his cause further with a solid workout. Right now his draft stock is holding steady. According to one NFL scout, Ringer did nothing to hurt his cause in Indianapolis, and that he&amp;rsquo;s projected as a mid-to-late second round draft pick despite his inability to perform fully in drills.The 5-foot-10, 205-pound Ringer is an explosive runner with a unique running style. He can be a slasher, but will also lower his pad and get physical, showing his versatility. He&amp;rsquo;s outstanding in short yardage situations and seems to get stronger as the game goes on. Ringer is a workhorse; he blocks well, and is a reliable receiver out of the backfield. He is also a person of good character.The only real concern among scouts is the mileage put on the running back after carrying the ball 370 times for 1,637 yards and 22 touchdowns this past season. Scouts&amp;rsquo; concerns may be insignificant at the pro level considering a lot of NFL teams are now going with a two-back system which means Ringer would receive considerably less carries in a season. He could be a nice change-of-pace back for some team in his first year in the league. Ringer reminds me a lot of Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams coming out of college. Both running backs put up some gaudy numbers their senior seasons, but shown little respect for their accomplishments on the field heading into the draft. Williams had a breakout season in his third-year in the league 2008 after sharing time with DeShaun Foster his first two. Williams rushed for 1,515 yards and 18 touchdowns this past season. There are some scouts who feel that Ringer may be the best pound-for-pound running back entering the draft. Not many would argue that point.Ringer interviewed with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals at the Combine. Both teams will be looking to address their running back situations via the draft.When ask about the interviews with his home state teams Ringer&amp;rsquo;s enthusiasm was undeniable.&amp;ldquo;Personally, I was happy to talk to the Bengals and Browns,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;I love home, but I&amp;rsquo;m willing to play anywhere. However, if I were blessed enough to play somewhere close to home it would really be convenient for my family. I know they would really love to see me play. That would truly be a blessing.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;]]></description>
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