By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

INDIANAPOLIS - At least three cornerbacks at the top of the draft - including Ohio State's Chris Gamble - have extensive college experience on offense or special teams.

And that fact, say several NFL scouts and coaches, increases their value to teams.

OSU FL/CB Chris Gamble. (Michael E. Keating/file photo)

"One thing you can't teach defensive backs is playing the ball in the air," said Jets coach Herm Edwards, a former NFL cornerback. "(Gamble) does that because he played receiver. A guy who has played receiver and (is a good cornerback) ... he's a guy who's going to go very, very high."

The Bengals, especially if they don't sign a veteran cornerback in free agency, might take a cornerback like Gamble or Virginia Tech's DeAngelo Hall with the 17th overall pick.

Gamble, Hall and Tusculum College's Ricardo Colclough are cornerbacks who can play the ball and are believed to be on the Bengals' radar screen.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, who has consistently declined to discuss his team's draft plans or specific players, said he wants to add defensive "playmakers" in the offseason and add to the team's 14 interceptions.

Gamble, an early entry junior, had three interceptions and 31 receptions for the Buckeyes in 2002-03.

"If they allow me to I will, but I'm mainly concentrating on defensive back," Gamble said when asked Sunday at the NFL scouting combine if teams have asked him to play wide receiver. "I think I'm better at defensive back, but I'm good at receiver, too."

Gamble has added 10-12 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-1 1/2 frame because he wanted to better defend physical receivers. He weighed in at 198 pounds and has the stature that Bengals defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier likes in his cornerbacks.

Hall, a dangerous punt returner for Virginia Tech's productive special teams, also has put on 8 pounds to improve his physicality against bigger receivers. He has run a 4.36-second 40-yard dash.

Some mock drafts have Hall, who returned five punts for touchdowns in the past two seasons, going to the Bengals at No. 17. Scouts also say he is good in run support.

"I'm a big corner who can do it all," said Hall, who is 5-10.

His best collegiate performance came in the second half against Pitt when he held wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to two receptions for 7 yards.

Colclough, the small-school long shot who impressed Bengals coaches at the Senior Bowl, had 15 interceptions in Division II the past two seasons and returned two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns as a senior.

At 5-11, 186 pounds, Colclough knows he has to overcome the small-school stigma. That process started at the Mobile, Ala.,-based all-star game. He could be available when the Bengals draft in the second round.

"I'm a finesse corner who can be aggressive," he said.

Other top cornerbacks in the draft are Southern California's Will Poole, Oklahoma's Derrick Strait and South Carolina's Dunta Robinson.

Poole eclipsed Strait as the consensus No. 1 corner since the Senior Bowl. Poole had seven interceptions, 19 passes broken up and three sacks among his 80 tackles in 2003. He also forced four fumbles.

"I describe my ability as a corner as complete; go out there, cover guys, make tackles in the backfield, just go out there and make plays," Poole said Sunday. "My strength is just overall game."

The Bengals are counting on Dennis Weathersby, their fourth-round pick in 2003, to rebound from the gunshot wound he suffered in April to compete for a starting job in 2004. He is 6-1, 204 pounds.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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