Cincinnati Bengals: Entire draft class present for rookie minicamp

That was especially the case for Parker, a St. Xavier High School graduate and native of Cincinnati. After four years at Duke, he’s back in his hometown playing with the local team.

“Obviously super cool,” Parker said. “When I got back home from draft day, I was ecstatic. I had a bunch of my St. X buddies down there too, so growing up, everybody knows Cincinnati is a tight city. Everybody’s really close here. So, the support I’ve gotten from everybody and just the love in the city, it was exciting to come back.”

Parker is unique in that he doesn’t yet know what kind of role the Bengals are looking for him to play. He played in 40 games with 33 starts, mainly at right tackle, for the Blue Devils, but was a center in high school and was projected as an interior lineman going through the draft process.

The Bengals drafted Lew in the fourth round as a backup to Ted Karras, but coming back from a major injury leaves some uncertainty about his future. Parker provides added insurance, plus depth across the line. He plans to be ready to play any position.

“Being able to play all the positions is huge for me,” Parker said. “I kind of take it from the center approach. Centers gotta know what everybody’s doing, so, once you lock in and you know at center, then it makes the other positions easier. So, today I was out there at left and right guard, but you know, we’ll be mixing and matching it all camp, I assume, and going into the season.”

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None of the rookies are expected to jump right into starting roles, but Howell, Davis and Young are in positions where some competition and rotational help are needed. Howell should factor into the rotation at defensive end, Davis could compete for the No. 3 cornerback spot and Young could do the same at wide receiver.

Howell said he will make the most out of this offseason to make sure he understands the playbook and speed of the NFL so he’s ready for real games come September.

“Honestly, I take a lot of pride in being very coachable and picking up on things in a fast way and being able to adapt,” Howell said. “Honestly, I think the major thing to be able to adapt to and to translate from college to NFL is probably just time management, just making sure that with all this free time, I don’t have class and study halls and things of that nature, so just making sure I’m coming in, getting extra PT, getting extra film work, getting extra work with the coaches and things of that nature.”

Young said he wants to be another explosive weapon for the Bengals, adding to what Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins already bring, as he competes with Andrei Iosivas for the No. 3 receiver spot. He won’t get his first opportunities to be on the field with them for at least another week, depending also on when they arrive for offseason workouts, but he looks forward to when that time comes.

“I showed it in my college tape, I showed it in high school, everywhere, but those guys, like I said, giving me single-man coverage a lot of times, it’s going to be a blessing to play out there with them,” Young said.