Remember what it was like last summer watching former Arkansas running back Felix Jones going through his first training camp with the Dallas Cowboys?

Well, we might get to check in on former Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs doing the same with the Cincinnati Bengals this summer.

HBO announced at a press conference today that the Bengals will be the featured team for its five-week series “Hard Knocks.” This will be the fifth-year of the series, which began back in 2001 when HBO followed the Baltimore Ravens. They’ve also followed Dallas (2002), Kansas City (2007) and Dallas again (2008).

I’m not exactly sure how much HBO will keep tabs on a rookie center who was picked in the fourth round. Especially when the Bengals are loaded with other interesting subjects like receiver Chad Johnson and quarterback Carson Palmer. And then there’s other big-name rookies like former Alabama tackle Andre Smith and former USC linebacker Ray Maualuga to watch.

But, hey, it should be well worth watching anyway.

The first episode of the series will be televised Aug. 12.

The NFL Draft has moved into the sixth round and no other Razorbacks have been selected.

So we’ll keep talking about Jonathan Luigs.

One of the greatest parts of the draft, at least from my standpoint, is the amount of information most NFL teams get up on their Web sites. And Bengals.com is no exception today. I was checking out the site to find some information on Luigs and there is plenty to share.

First, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis spoke to the media a little earlier about the third and fourth-round picks and had some good things to say about Luigs. The most interesting: He expects him to compete for a starting job right away.

“He will compete for the starting center spot,” Lewis said. “We have a number of guys that are here now that are in line to compete for that job and we look for him to improve.”

The Cincinnati media also got a chance to talk to Luigs via conference call. It doesn’t look like a terribly long interview session, but Luigs was asked about the opportunity he is getting to come in and land a job immediately. He also was asked how frustrating his senior season was after enduring a coaching change and not being able to repeat as the Rimington Trophy winner.

“It was tough. It’s not something I wanted to spend my senior year doing — going through a transition year,” Luigs told reporters. “At the same time, I learned a lot from Coach (Bobby) Petrino and his staff. It helped me expand my knowledge of football with his offense. It helped me to become a better player.”

Just got off the phone with center Jonathan Luigs, who became a Cincinnati Bengal this morning when the team selected him with the 106th pick in the fourth round of the draft.

Obviously, Luigs is thrilled. He said he was watching Cincinnati’s picks pretty closely because he knew the Bengals needed a center and had plenty of contact with them throughout the interview process. Cincinnati’s staff coached the North squad at the Senior Bowl.

“They were down at the Senior Bowl and and one night, since they coached the North, we flipped,” Luigs said. “The South players got to go meet their coaching staff. At the combine we had a 15 minute formal with Coach Marvin Lewis and (offensive line) coach (Paul) Alexander and a couple of their front office people. And Coach Alexander came down for pro day of course. So I worked with him there.

“I had a fair amount of contact with them.”

I asked Luigs how everything went down this morning when he was picked. He didn’t pay too much attention to the draft yesterday (other than to see a couple of centers selected in the first two rounds) but got up this morning and had been watching and waiting. He knew the Bengals had a pick at the end of the third round and was hoping it could’ve been him, but they took Missouri tight end Chase Coffman.

He didn’t have to wait much longer, though.

“Coach Alexander texted me and asked if this was the right number,” Luigs said. “I said, ‘Yes it is,’ and he said, ‘Great, well get ready to come to Cincy.’ It was a few picks before Cincinnati was up and then about five minutes before they put it on TV, Coach Lewis called me and said they were getting ready to take me and they’d see me Thursday. I guess we’ll go up there for rookie mini camp this weekend.”

Luigs said he’s thrilled to be off the board and is planning to relax the rest of the day. He’ll be watching the draft, though, hoping some of his other teammates — like tackle Jose Valdez — will get to experience the same feeling he just had a little while ago.

Check back for more later here on the blog. Or you can follow quick updates from me on Twitter at twitter.com/rneiswanger. We’ll have much more in the newspaper tomorrow morning as well on the NFL Draft.

Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs has found an NFL home this morning.

Luigs was just selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round (pick 106). Luigs said before the draft he was hearing anywhere from the fourth round to the sixth round and that came true today. The good news for him: He didn’t have to wait until the sixth round.

Luigs could be the only Arkansas player drafted today, although tackle Jose Valdez has a chance. We’ll keep following the draft the rest of the day and fill you in on everything we’re hearing about Luigs, Valdez and the rest of the NFL hopeful Razorbacks.

  The first day of the NFL Draft wrapped up earlier in the night, and as expected, no former Arkansas players heard their names called during the first two rounds.

  Center Jonathan Luigs is the Razorbacks’ best chance at getting drafted, and he admitted earlier in the week that he could go anywhere from rounds four through six. We’ll have to wait until Sunday to see if that’s where the former Rimington Trophy winner lands.

  Day Two of the NFL Draft kicks off at 9 a.m. Sunday, so maybe Luigs will get a call sometime not too long after that. But it could be a long day for him and several other former Razorbacks hoping to live their dreams of making the NFL.

  The Southeastern Conference had a good run in the first round of the draft on Saturday, starting with the Detroit Lions taking former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick.

  Former LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson went No. 3 to the Kansas City Chiefs, followed by former Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith (No. 6 to the Cincinnati Bengals) and former Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno (No. 12 to the Denver Broncos).

  Moreno’s pickup could mean less carries for former Arkansas fullback Peyton Hillis, who went from being a seventh-round pick in last year’s draft to being a surprising starter as a rookie.

  The Broncos continued with the SEC theme by selecting former Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers with the 18th pick. And the SEC had a good run of players later on when former Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin and Ole Miss teammates Michael Oher and Peria Jerry were taken back-to-back-to-back with picks No. 22 (Harvin to the Minnesota Vikings), No. 23 (Oher to the Baltimore Ravens) and No. 24 (Jerry to the Atlanta Falcons).

  Eight of the first 32 selections on Saturday were from the SEC.  

  For the heck of it, here’s a picture of former Arkansas running back Darren McFadden after he was selected with the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft.

  Arkansas held its pro day on Tuesday morning, giving more than a dozen former Razorback football players a chance to impress NFL scouts with their 40-yard dash times and performances in a series of agility drills.

  Center Jonathan Luigs and offensive lineman Jose Valdez were by the far the two biggest names to take part in the workout in front of dozens of scouts and one NFL general manager.

  Arkansas’ media relations staff was nice enough to keep track of how each player performed in the individual drills. Here’s the link to how they did.

  Also, check out tomorrow my story on Luigs and Valdez, as well as a notebook about tight end Andrew Davie’s trying out as a long snapper and wide receiver Marcus Monk’s attempt to make the NFL for a second – or perhaps third – time.

  Arkansas offensive linemen Jonathan Luigs and Jose Valdez got a chance at last month’s NFL Combine to run, jump and lift for NFL scouts, coaches and general managers. And they’ll get another opportunity to do the same early next week.

  Arkansas announced Thursday morning that it will hold its Pro Day on Tuesday inside the Walker Pavilion. Testing is set to begin at 11 a.m. and wrap up around 1 p.m.

  It’s safe to say that there won’t be as many high-ranking NFL officials at this year’s Arkansas Pro Day than in 2008, when future first-round picks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones worked out alongside promising prospects like defensive lineman Marcus Harrison and fullback Peyton Hillis.

  This year Luigs and Valdez will be the stars. They were the only two Razorbacks invited to the NFL Combine. But it will be curious to see if former Arkansas wide receiver Marcus Monk will attempt another shot at making the NFL and work out at Pro Day.

  We’ll have to wait and see.

  Let the workouts begin.

  Offensive linemen were among the first groups to take part in drills on the opening day of the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. That gave former Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs a chance to show that he deserves to be one of the first players at his position to be taken at the NFL Draft.

  Luigs ran the 40-yard dash in 5.14 seconds and reached 31 inches on his vertical jump. What this says about how well the Little Rock native will project to the NFL? I have absolutely no idea. But hey, NFL executives love numbers.  

 

  Former Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs and offensive tackle Jose Valdez will be spending the next few days in Indianapolis, trying to make a case at this year’s NFL Combine that they deserve to be drafted.

  They’re the only former Razorbacks who were invited to the combine, and they’ll each leave Wednesday for what they hope will be a good showing for NFL executives.

  A source close to the NFL told me a few weeks ago that Luigs is considered a fifth-round pick, though he could work his way into the third or fourth round. I’m not sure where Valdez is projected.

  I spoke with Luigs on Monday night and Valdez on Tuesday morning about what they’ve been doing since the end of the season to get ready for the combine and what their emotions are like heading into such a big event for them. The combine begins Wednesday, though offensive linemen aren’t scheduled to work out until Thursday.

  Here is the story I did for Wednesday’s newspaper on Luigs and Valdez heading to the combine. Perhaps if I get some free time, I’ll post some quotes from both players that didn’t make the article.

  Anyway, we’ll try to keep you up-to-date on how both Luigs and Valdez do at the combine. And since there are no pictures of either of them from the combine, how about another look at Darren McFadden, who wowed NFL teams by running the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds at last year’s combine?

  

Now that the Southeastern Conference title game is over with, it’s that time of year again. Postseason awards!

The Associated Press released its all-SEC team and five Razorbacks made their way on the list.

A first-team kind of guy.

Tight end D.J. Williams was named to the first-team offense after leading the Hogs with 61 catches for 723 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Williams was the only Arkansas player to earn first-team honors.

After that, running back Michael Smith, center Jonathan Luigs, defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard and punter Jeremy Davis earned second-team honors. Luigs — who won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy and was a first-team, all-SEC pick last season — was bumped by Alabama center Antoine Caldwell.

The SEC’s individual honors also were handed out by the AP. Here they are:

Offensive Player of the Year — Tim Tebow (QB, Florida)

Defensive Player of the Year — Eric Berry (CB, Tennessee)

Freshman of the Year — Julio Jones (WR, Alabama)

Coach of the Year — Nick Saban (Alabama)