2021 NFL Draft: Bengals pick up defenders, Browns select Bearcats' Hudson

CLEVELAND — With the final four rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft underway, the Cincinnati Bengals have picked up two defenders, an offensive tackle and a kicker, and the Cleveland Browns selected an offensive lineman out of UC.

The Bengals selected Cameron Sample, a Tulane defensive tackle, with the 111th overall pick in the fourth round Saturday.

Sample garnered first-team All-American Athletic Conference honors in 2020 with 52 tackles, 8.5 for loss, with five sacks, three pass breakups in 11 starts, according to NFL.com. He also accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl.

With the 110th overall pick, the Browns selected Cincinnati Bearcats offensive tackle James Hudson III.

Considered one of the top high school defensive end recruits in the country, Hudson landed at Michigan and played three games as a reserve right tackle before he decided to transfer, NFL.com reports. The Toledo native joined the Bearcats for the 2020 Birmingham Bowl against Boston College, and he would start all 10 games at left tackle that fall to earn first-team All-American Athletic Conference honors. He too accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl.

MORE: UC taking the next step in order to assist offensive lineman James Hudson

With the 122nd overall pick in the fourth round, the Bengals drafted defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin out of LSU.

During the Tigers' national title run with current Bengal and then-LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, Shelvin started 14 of 15 games to record 39 tackles, three for losses, and two pass breakups, NFL.com reports. A Lafayette, Louisiana native, Shelvin opted out of the 2020 season.

The Bengals selected East Carolina offensive tackle D'Ante Smith in the fourth round with the 139th pick.

Smith was an all-region pick in football and a heavyweight wrestler at Grovetown High School in Augusta, Georgia, according to NFL.com. At East Carolina, Smith suffered an injury his freshman season. He began the 2020 season at left tackle but was again injured, and he took the rest of the year to prepare for the draft. He also accepted an invitation the Senior Bowl.

Cincinnati drafted Florida's Evan McPherson in the fifth round with the 149th pick, the first kicker off the board.

The sixth round brought two picks for the Bengals. Center Trey Hill from Georgia was the 190th pick while Michigan's Chris Evans, a running back, was the 202nd pick.

The Bengals' last pick ushered in Wyatt Hubert as the 235th pick in the 2021 draft -- a defensive end from Kansas State.

Other notable picks Saturday: Louisville wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick is heading to the Tennessee Titans (109th overall pick); Ohio State defender Tommy Togiai was drafted by the Browns (132nd pick); Ohio State tight end Luke Farell is bound for the Jacksonville Jaguars (145th pick).