Updated: 3 p.m.
Former Bengals cornerback Artrell Hawkins, a second-round pick 14 years ago, loves many things about the newest Bengasl cornerback, Alabama's Dre Kirkpatrick. Hawkins, a Bengals Radio Network analyst, spent Friday afternoon again reviewing tape and emerged again, overall, pleased.
"He's the hardest hitter they've had in the secondary since, well, me," saiid Hawkins, who left after the 2003 season. "He's very competitive, very smart and plays with a flair. He's going to make everyone more competitive back there."
GOOD REVIEWS: The Bengals go into Friday's second and third rounds with generally good reviews for their work in the first.
After NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock called the Kevin Zeitler pick "solid," ESPN's Todd McShay said the Bengals "did a great job" filling holes with Zeitler at No. 27 and Dre Kirkpatrick at No. 17. Pete Prisco of CBS Sports gave the Kirkpatrick pick an A and the Zeitler pick a B and Sports Illustrated's Peter King reported the Ravens were frustrated when the Pats took linebacker Dont'a Hightower and the Bengals took Zeitler as their backup plan.
FIRST PLANS: Kirkpatrick and Zeitler are getting the Paul Brown Stadium whirlwind tour Friday, highlighted by the 3 p.m. news conference. Then they'll head over to the LeBlond Boys and Girls Club in Over-The-Rhine to visit and sign autographs.
MORE FOUNDATIONS: More signs that quarterback Andy Dalton is growing more comfortable with his role in Cincinnati with word that he and his wife are joining the growing list of Bengals foundations that expanded when cornerback Jason Allen joined the club last month. The Andy and Jordan Dalton Foundation is based in Cincinnati and is going to be geared to children and their families who have special needs physically or mentally. The Daltons envision a wide range of help, from renting out Kings Island for a day to helping a family burdened by medical costs to make house payments, to getting grants for wheelchairs.
MORE TRADES?: After dealing down in the first round, will the Bengals do Friday what they've only done twice before and trade up? It's costly if they want to go from 53 in the second round up to 40 or so, which according to the charts takes a fourth and fifth-rounder. That's tough for a team that has drafted in the fourth round current starting defensive linemen Geno Atkins, Domata Peko and Robert Geathers, as well as key backup tackle Anthony Collins with 18 NFL starts, and former players that took a lot of snaps in fullback Jeremi Johnson and right tackle Stacy Andrews. The jury is still out on last year's fourth-rounder, right guard Clint Boling.
But if the right guy were there? Getting up in the top 10 in the third round from about the middle of the round would be about a fifth and a sixth and the Bengals have three fifth-rounders.
