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http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=5214
For the first time Tuesday, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis confirmed he’s waiting for this weekend to unfold before deciding to stay with the 4-3 base defense or changing to a 3-4.
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Lewis wouldn’t be specific about what would make him go through with the switch, but there are two first-round 3-4 defensive ends that would make the switch palatable. Yet, there’s a good chance that two teams who have already committed to the 3-4, the Browns, at No. 12, and the Patriots, at No. 21, covet North Carolina State’s Manny Lawson and Florida State’s Kamerion Wimbley before the Bengals pick at No. 24, and that could very well stymie the switch.
The Bengals already have a 3-4 player in David Pollack, their first pick in last year’s draft.
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Lawson is certainly a popular guy. In an interview with KFFL.com on Tuesday, Lawson said he not only had a pre-draft visit with the Bengals, but also the Browns, Steelers, Buccaneers, Jets, Patriots and Colts. Four of those teams are picking ahead of Cincinnati.
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Each 3-4 defense is different. Pittsburgh, where Lewis cut his teeth on the 3-4 in the previous decade, runs it differently than New England, which runs it differently than Dallas.
In their heyday, the Patriots drafted a bunch of tweeners and asked them to do very specific things designed on their strengths. That’s why Jones suggests that players drafted out of the glare of the first round could also have an impact on Lewis’ decision
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Without mentioning Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry by name, Lewis said such character issues have been “red-flagged†even more this year.
“Guys who have issues with coaching or teammates and things like that, it’s something that’s going to be a little bit more of a red flag to me,†Lewis said. “We’re going to continue to pay big attention to character and red flag things like that.â€
Before the Bengals took Henry in the third round last April, they checked out similar questions about his sometimes volatile career at West Virginia. Henry ended up leading all rookie wide receivers with six touchdown catches, but he was also arrested twice in a 45-day span late last season and faces a May 30 trial in Florida in which he is charged with a felony gun count.