By: Marc Hardin (Scout.com) — he Bengals began their reshuffling on Monday by signing five players to the offseason roster. Who are they and what are their chances of sticking with the team? We delve into the possibilities.

The Bengals announced Monday that they signed five players to the team’s offseason roster. All five were on the Bengals’ practice squad as the 2009 season concluded. The five players are:

CB Antonio Smith (Ohio State)

WR Freddie Brown (Utah)

DT Clinton McDonald (Memphis)

WR Maurice Purify (Nebraska)

G Jason Shirley (Fresno State)

Shirley and Smith will be classified as second-year NFL players. Purify, Brown and McDonald will be first-year players.

Here is a news-and-views look at each Bengal:
CB Antonio Smith

NEWS: A former Buckeye, Smith was re-signed to the Bengals’ practice squad on Dec. 9, after having previously been on the practice squad for a week, from Nov. 24 through Nov. 30. He began the year with Detroit, signing April 17 as a free agent, but the Lions buy antibiotics online waived him near the beginning of training camp on July 31. He signed with San Diego on Aug. 6, but was waived on Sept. 5, which was his last NFL transaction before joining the Bengals in November. He was originally signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2007.

VIEWS: Smith has bounced around the NFL without ever having made the field. He won’t remain in the Bengals plans for long unless he takes a quantum leap in coverage skills. Smith compensates for any lack of physical ability with his intelligence and work ethic, and he’s made surprising leaps before. He went to Ohio State on an academic scholarship and studied engineering. He walked on to the football team and didn’t earn a scholarship until he was a senior. After playing 11 minutes at safety and corner in two games in his college career, Smith started all 12 games his senior season. He finished second on the Buckeyes with 66 tackles with two sacks, two interceptions, a forced and a recovered fumble, and became a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award, which goes to the top defensive back in the country, and was a first-team all-Big Ten consensus pick. He’s a longshot who nevertheless can’t be counted out because of his heart.

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