INDIANAPOLIS — His nickname, Big, only begins to describe Leonard Davis.

        The University of Texas left tackle, projected by many draft forecasters as the Bengals' first-round pick, was big enough to drive a tractor at age 3. That's no typographical error. Age 3. At the wheel of a farm implement.

        In fifth grade, at age 11, the manchild reached 6 feet, 200 pounds.

        In seventh grade, as waterboy for the Wortham (Texas) High football team, he was 6-4 and 300 pounds, bigger than any other player on the roster.

        At 22, Davis remains a biological marvel and a bookend lineman who could make a big contribution toward improving the Bengals' anemic pass offense.

        He showed up at the NFL's annual scouting combine weighing 370 pounds and standing just shy of 6-6. He has 36-inch arms, the longest Bengals coaches have seen other than current NFL players Jevon Kearse and Alonzo Spellman, but Davis still was able to bench press 225 pounds 33 times. He can bench more than 500 pounds.

        Davis recently went to a custom clothing store in Dallas that has fit Cowboys players for years, said former Cowboys executive Gil Brandt, and Davis was the largest man tailors there had ever measured. He wears a 56-long sportcoat and has a 48-inch waist and 21 1/2-inch neck.

        Davis also wears size 18 shoes — one size smaller than Bengals right tackle Willie Anderson — but on the football field Davis moves like a ballet dancer. He's never off balance, and those yard-long arms help keep even the speediest pass-rushing defensive ends off the quarterback's blind side. Davis can't remember the last sack he allowed.

        “Some of the guys from Texas Tech and Kansas actually said something on the field about how big I was and how quick I was,” Davis said. “They said it was amazing. I just laughed. I smiled and said, "Yeah, I know.'”

        In uniform, he admits to having a mean streak. Away from the game, Davis is a gentle giant, a small-town guy from a blended family of 22 children who grew up working on a farm with his dad.

        That 22 kids is not a typo, either. His dad remarried.

        Everything about Davis is big. His size, his family, his character.

        “I really feel like the scouts and general managers are really interested,” he said. “I think they probably feel like I'm somebody they don't have to worry about off the field.”

        His father, L.A. Davis, a former bus driver, preacher and farmer, taught his son many lessons. Paramount among them, “You can't do all the things everybody else does,” Leonard Davis said. “That really didn't hit me until my freshman year in college. Just going out and partying. I realized I couldn't go out and do that.

        “When I first got to UT, I went out a lot. Then it slowed down. Then I was more about taking care of business.”

        The combination of physical skills and maturity has impressed the Bengals. Offensive line coach Paul Alexander interviewed Davis at the combine.

        “What he has, in the run game, is explosiveness at the point like no player I've seen,” Alexander said. “Then, in protection, he's a balanced, athletic guy who has extraordinary reach. He's able to gain a step because of his reach.

        “He's a good person, and he wants to be really good, which is important.”

        Davis has no preference where he plays in the NFL.

        “There are four or five teams who are really looking hard,” he said. “Cincinnati, Arizona, New England, Atlanta. Cleveland also. I understand (the Bengals) have been struggling, and I feel like I could add something to the table to help them winning games. I feel I have that to bring.”

        The Cardinals and Browns pick before the Bengals, but the Browns, at least, appear ready to select a running back if they are unable to sign the Bengals' Corey Dillon as a free agent.

        Davis has a private workout March 21 in Austin, Texas, that the Bengals are sure to attend. Davis worked out in Arizona with a private trainer to prepare for the combine.

        The combine is a big stage, Leonard “Big” Davis said, and he came to put on a big show.

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