Thursday, Apr 26, 2012 06:55 PM

Dre Kirkpatrick goes to Cincinnati Bengals with Palmer trade pick

CINCINNATI -- The Bengals love those first-round cornerbacks.

Cincinnati added to its already bursting collection of top cornerbacks Thursday night by taking Alabama's Dre Kirkpatrick with the 17th overall pick. This one will have a little time to work his way into the starting lineup.

It marked the third time in the last seven years that the Bengals chose a cornerback with their top pick. This one came courtesy of the Oakland Raiders, who gave up the 17th overall pick as part of the deal for quarterback Carson Palmer.

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"He played a lot of bump-and-run, a lot of intricate schemes at Alabama," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "So, we really feel good about him."

The Bengals also had their own pick at No. 21, but they traded it to the New England Patriots and moved down to 27th, where they took versatile guard Kevin Zeitler from Wisconsin. The Bengals also received the Patriots' third-round pick to move down.

Zeitler impressed Bengals offensive line coach Paul Alexander with his consistent play, rarely making a mistake.

"He's a very, very efficient blocker," Alexander said. "You don't realize he's in there because you don't see a lot of error."

At both spots, the Bengals have a bunch of 30-something players who can break in the new guys.

"We were hoping to cover a couple of needs for the future in the first round, and we feel we were able to do that," Lewis said.