MAC QB and WR lead Bengals CFA class

Led by the MAC Offensive Player of the Year and one of that league’s most dangerous receivers, the Bengals unveiled their college free agent class Friday morning. The 13 undrafted players join with the seven draft picks and several first-year players and 19 try-out candidates to form this weekend’s rookie minicamp at Paul Brown Stadium. They’ll work Friday and Saturday afternoons and Sunday morning. Bowling Green quarterback Matt Johnson, winner of the Sammy Baugh Award as the nation’s top passer, should find himself at some point throwing to Toledo wide receiver Alonzo Russell, an all-MAC player the past four seasons. The 6-4, 206-pound Russell, once timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.48 seconds, is a deep threat plagued by inconsistency when it comes to drops. But Russell is quite gifted and he’s believed to have been the club’s most coveted target in the post-draft scramble as they make no bones about looking for receivers. Joining Russell and draft picks Tyler Boyd and Cody Core are undrafted Alex Erickson of Wisconsin and Antwane Grant of Western Kentucky. With practice squad running backs James Wilder Jr., and Terrelle Watson bolting in the offseason, the Bengals signed two more undrafted big backs in Texas A&M’s Tra Carson and Eastern Kentucky’s Dy’shawn Mobley. Both ended up producing in their second collegiate stops with Carson transferring to A&M from Oregon and Mobley transferring to EKU from Kentucky. The Bengals didn’t ink a free-agent safety, but they did sign Wisconsin cornerback Darius Hillary. Hillary is the son of Bengals Super Bowl wide receiver Ira Hillary and a product of Cincinnati’s Sycamore High School. As is their penchant, the Bengals signed two guards (Houston’s Alex Cooper and UCLA’s Alex Redmond) with an eye to developing a backup that can play all three inside spots. Among the ten try-out players with local ties is Indiana State linebacker Kendall Walker, son of former Bengals linebacker Kevin Walker, a third-round pick of the club in 1988 who played here for five seasons. A look at CFAs; List of try-out players