Jan 5, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis prepares for a game against the Houston Texans before the AFC Wild Card playoff game at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The final rookie minicamp practice has concluded, and head coach Marvin Lewis shared his thoughts on his newest players and their adjustment to the NFL life:

I thought they went very good. It’s been very productive. When you have 10 draft picks there’s a lot of opportunity to get those guys involved and see them get incorporated in the offense and defense and then a little bit of special teams. To a man I’ve been pleased with what they’ve come out here and done. Now most will be here this week and get infused with the rest of the team.

The next key offseason event will be May 20-23, when organized team activities (OTAs) take place.This is phase three of the offseason workout program, the first two weeks being a maximum of three days. Coaches are permitted to attend these, but no live contact is allowed.

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May 10, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals first round draft pick tight end Tyler Eifert (85) warms up during the Bengals rookie minicamp at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis has spent the past 5 months scouting and breaking down film of all of the rookie slated to attend this weekend’s rookie minicamp, and after finally being able to get them into PBS and watch them go through a light NFL practice, he’s liking what he sees:

I think to a man they impressed me. I wasn’t disappointed, really, where anybody was in relationship to what we expected through the draft. I think it’s evident that both Tyler and Giovani will be able to really help us offensively and have an opportunity to carve out roles and niches early on in their rookie seasons. The game’s not going to be too big for either one of them and that was really evident in the first two practices today.

That statement says a lot to me, as Lewis can be rather stubborn when he has talented rookies at positions where there’s already a veteran presence. Bernard will be battling with BenJarvus Green-Ellis for touches, while Eifert will start out behind Jermaine Gresham, but if today’s practice is any indication of what’s to come, those two should have no problem getting onto the field early and often in 2013.

Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer also got a new toy to play with in SMU defensive end Margus Hunt, and although the former world-class shot put and discus thrower is as raw as they come, Zimmer is confident Hunt can thrive in his system:

When you watch him on tape, it’s not all the time you see it, but there are enough flashes that you see where you go, ‘Wow, this guy can really run, he can accelerate, he’s got strength’ — all the things that you’re looking for. That’s why this is a good situation for us and for him — we can teach him how we want it done, and he’s going to learn a new defense a little bit. Defensive line is defensive line, but it’s a little different techniques, and I think we can use his ability in our system a little bit better.

Football-wise, he’s about 12. But he’s an exceptionally hard worker. I don’t want us to sound like he’s just learning the game, because he’s a good prospect. But he’s just learning more and more about it. He plays really hard. We were watching tape today, and I said to Jay (Gruden, offensive coordinator), when he cleared a couple offensive linemen, his acceleration to the quarterback was as good as I’ve seen from anybody. So he has a lot of things he does really, really well.

As with any great psychological campaign, the fruit of one’s labor will largely never be known; an adversary’s motivations – that which is your target and hopefully effected – can never truly be quantified as it exists only in grey matter locked away behind their eyes.  Nonetheless, these transparent mind-games are often the ghosts in the machinery that bring rise to great ideas, men and organizations.

Jan 22, 2013; Mobile AL, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith scout the Senior Bowl south squad practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Make no mistake: the NFL Draft is game in and of itself, full of more trick plays, audibles, reverses, and unforeseen turns of events than any given Sunday.  The Dark Decades have left the Bengals picking within the Top of 10 of the Draft thirteen times between 1991 and 2011, which perhaps dulled Owner Mike Brown and his nepotism-infested front office as to the guile and shrewdness that is required from a scouting department and legitimate General Manger if a true foundation of a franchise is ever to be built.   Head Coach Marvin Lewis’s 2010 extension with the team was the product of a long sequestration between him and the Brown Family, and the full details of what kept Coach Lewis in Cincinnati were never made public.

Acknowledging several critical personnel decisions that have been recorded since that time in 2010, noted plainly in last year’s A Conspiracy In Orange article, it’s even more likely now that Coach Lewis has fully assumed the role of player-personnel puppet master for the Bengals.