*Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, and offensive line coach Paul Alexander met the media following Cincinnati's fifth-round selection of Adam Kieft. The transcript follows: *
HEAD COACH MARVIN LEWIS
Initial comments:
"In Adam Kieft we have another player who has an opportunity to come in here, learn, and earn a spot in the future. He can be a backup right away and learn from a couple very good offensive tackles (Willie Anderson and Levi Jones). It now gives us a couple guys for the future. Adam's a big man who played left tackle at Central Michigan, and he has a big reach, long wingspan and big, strong hands. He's very strong at the point of attack. We're very excited to add him to the mix."
Q: When you say two guys for the future, who is the other player you're referring to?
"Stacey Andrews, who we selected in the draft last year. Both are big, physical specimens, so we'll bring them off the bus first."
Q: You like guys who went to the same school (the Bengals selected center Eric Ghiaciuc, also from Central Michigan, in the fourth round):
"I think that's just a coincidence. That's the way it goes. A lot of people felt these two players from Central Michigan (Kieft and Ghiaciuc) were very good players."
OFFENSIVE LINE COACH PAUL ALEXANDER
Q: Can he pass block?
"I would hope so. He's a real smart guy — a strong and very productive player. He played very well against Michigan State, (which is) big competition. You'll like him. He's a good prospect."
Q: Does Kieft get a good punch?
"He's got real strong hands — a real good punch. He'll be more of a real strong guy than a quick-footed guy. He may be more of a right tackle in pro football, but we'll see. He could play guard."
Q: What's the No. 1 thing he needs to work on?
"Probably just the speed of the guys coming off the edge on him. He wouldn't be the Lone Ranger there. He just needs to play against world-class players. He's a real smart guy. I think his grade point average is 3.3. He's just real smart."
