The process of putting together the 2001 Bengals switches into high gear this week.

        Bengals coaches, personnel officials and members of the Brown family will meet this morning to evaluate college players they saw at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

        Then the assistant coaches will spend the rest of the day making travel arrangements to attend personal workouts for college players. University of Miami players, for example, will work out Thursday in Florida.

        Members of the Bengals personnel department will rearrange the team's draft board. They'll also attempt to reach contract agreements with some of the team's remaining seven unrestricted veteran free agents, especially guard Matt O'Dwyer.

        “Matt, most weeks, was our best offensive lineman,” said Jim Lippincott, director of pro/college personnel. “He had a nice year.”

        Teams have exclusive negotiating rights with their veteran free agents through Thursday.

        Friday, free agency begins, and the Bengals will pursue veterans to fill holes at four positions: quarterback, pass rusher, center and guard. O'Dwyer and veteran center Rich Braham are unrestricted free agents, and if the Bengals can't sign them they'll replace them.

        The news out of Indianapolis is good, and it's something Lippincott said as early as October.

        “This draft is deep,” he said again Monday after returning from the combine. “This senior class could have stood on its own without the juniors who are coming out.

        “We're planning for this draft a little differently. It's obvious we have a lot of needs. We should push ourselves to take the best player at each position.”

        Cincinnati, coming off its second consecutive 4-12 season, has the fourth overall pick for the second year in a row.

Next for Bengals: Evaluate, negotiate Smoot best CB in draft

Xavier returns to Top 25
Huggins stays calm through rough season
Larson's power intrigues Reds
Three up, three down for Wohlers
Junior dresses down reporter
Hunter beats odds at Ohio U.
Williams, Craig reviving city's rich fight history
Auto racing coverage
Boys basketball coverage
Girls basketball coverage
Cincinnati boys basketball games
Cincinnati girls basketball game
N.Ky. boys basketball games
N.Ky. girls basketball games
Kentucky boys basketball poll
Kentucky girls basketball poll
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Cincinnati boys basketball schedule
Cincinnati girls basketball schedule
N.Ky. boys basketball schedule
N.Ky. girls basketball schedule

• Return to Bengals front page...