Bengals Rookie Minicamp Roster
Draft Picks, College Free Agents and First-Year Eligible Players
Giovani Bernard RB North Carolina
Larry Black DT Indiana
Terrence Brown CB Stanford
Rex Burkhead RB Nebraska
Jordan Campbell LB New Mexico Highlands
Travis Chappelear DT Northwest Missouri State
Bryce Davis TE/LS Central Oklahoma
Jayson DiManche LB Southern Illinois
Tyler Eifert TE Notre Dame
DeQuin Evans DE Kentucky
Reid Fragel OT Ohio State
Tyrone Goard WR Eastern Kentucky
Cobi Hamilton WR Arkansas
Tanner Hawkinson G Kansas
Margus Hunt DE SMU
T.J. Johnson C South Carolina
Brandon Joiner LB Arkansas State
Onterio McCalebb CB Auburn
Sean Porter LB Texas A&M
Roy Roundtree WR Michigan
J.K. Schaffer LB Cincinnati
Quinn Sharp K/P Oklahoma State
Troy Stoudemire CB Minnesota
John Sullen G Auburn
Bruce Taylor LB Virginia Tech
Shawn Williams S Georgia
The Cincinnati Bengals officially announced the signing of two draft picks Friday on the opening day of rookie minicamp.
Seventh-rounders Reid Fragel, an offensive tackle from Ohio State, and T.J. Johnson, a center from South Carolina, each signed four-year deals worth a reported $2.2 million over the course of the contract.
“I was kind of surprised when I came in (Thursday) and they said they had it ready for me,” Fragel said. “It wasn’t something I was pressing, but away we went. It was nice to get that out of the way.”
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he expects the team to reach agreements with the other draft picks soon.
“I think we’ll push hard to get them all signed here very quickly,” he said. “That way we can kind of turn our attention to some other things.”
Together again: Tyler Eifert and John Goodman have taken plenty of road trips over the years, but none was probably as exciting as the three-and-a-half hour drive they made Thursday from Fort Wayne, Ind., to Paul Brown Stadium.
Teammates at Bishop Dwenger High School and the University of Notre Dame, Eifert and Goodman are together again as members of the Cincinnati Bengals after the team drafted tight end Eifert in the first round and signed Goodman, a wide receiver, as a college free agent.
“It’s kind of cool,” Eifert said. “It was like we were getting the car to come to summer football camp.”
The day after the draft ended, Eifert was on the golf course with Goodman when the Bengals called.
“I actually didn’t check my phone and then when I looked at it I said, ‘I’ve got a missed call,’ ” Goodman said. “When I listened to (the message), it was the Bengals. So I said, ‘Hey, Ty, I guess I’m going to be joining you again.’
“It’s pretty crazy. I mean, what are the odds of that with 32 teams? It’s cool.”
Goodman played quarterback in high school. He graduated a year ahead of Eifert and talked then-Irish coach Charlie Weiss into recruiting him.
“It’s pretty awesome to have not just a teammate, but a friend here,” Eifert said.
Tryout troops: Of the 46 players participating in Bengals rookie minicamp this weekend, 20 are on tryouts.
Those players are center Mario Benavides (Louisville), cornerback Cameron Cheatham (Cincinnati), running back John Clay (Wisconsin), defensive back Brian Gamble (Ashland), Goodman, quarterback Tyler Housewright (Ashland), fullback/tight end Nate Jones (Marian), punter Scott Kovanda (Ball State), tackle Dan Matha (Indiana, Pa.), tackle/guard Aaron McGlynn (Kutztown), safety Jesse Paulsen (Texas A&M), quarterback Ryan Radcliff (Central Michigan), defensive tackle/end Darrington Sentimore (Tennessee), safety Alex Sewall (Indiana State), defensive tackle Terrence Stephens (Stanford), wide receiver/tight end Nick Truesdell (Grand Rapids), tackle/guard Ivory Wade (Baylor), cornerback Darius Winston (Arkansas), linebacker Dwayne Woods (Bowling Green) and defensive end/linebacker Taylor Wyndham (Kentucky).
“I think there are some guys with ability, as always is the case,” Lewis said. “We’ve ended up signing a guy, at least one every year, that has ended up being able to stay around in some fashion. It’s a good group of guys that are fighting.”
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