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Bengals don’t see need at left tackle

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By Chick Ludwig, Staff Writer 12:46 AM Wednesday, April 22, 2009

CINCINNATI — With the sixth overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select ...

Don’t be surprised if he’s not a left offensive tackle.

Head coach Marvin Lewis made it clear the club won’t be swayed by all the mock-draft projections of a left tackle.

“I wouldn’t really think that’s a high priority,” Lewis said at his predraft news conference on Tuesday, April 21. “We feel real comfortable with some guys we have in-house doing the things we need them to do to play productive football.

“I don’t think we’re going in there saying we need to have a left offensive tackle. We have three guys who played the spot for us last year, so we’re not going into the draft thinking that way.”

Levi Jones, Andrew Whitworth and Anthony Collins played LT in 2008. Jones started 10 games and Collins the final six. Left guard Whitworth replaced an injured Jones in the first quarter against Philadelphia on Nov. 16 only to be sidelined in the third quarter by a season-ending ankle injury.

The loss of Stacy Andrews in free agency to Philadelphia leaves a hole at right tackle, and that’s what makes Alabama’s Andre Smith so intriguing. The 6-foot-4, 332-pounder, who played left tackle for the Crimson Tide, could play right tackle for the Bengals.

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