With NFL training camps coming up, keep an eye on these Cincinnatians hoping to make mark

With training camp report days for all 32 NFL teams scheduled for later this month, plenty of players who cut their teeth playing high school football in the Greater Cincinnati area are hoping to make their mark, whether just starting their careers or hoping to continue them.

Here are the Greater Cincinnati natives who are expected to vie for spots on NFL teams this upcoming season:

LB Derrick Barnes (Holy Cross), Detroit Lions

After playing his college career at Purdue, the Lions drafted Barnes in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft. Across four seasons with the Lions, he's played in 51 games, recording 205 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks. He started three games in 2024 before a knee injury ended his season. In March, Barnes agreed to a three-year, $25.5 million extension with Detroit, with $16 million fully guaranteed.

TE Brenden Bates (Moeller), Cleveland Browns

Bates played in 55 games across six seasons at Kentucky, catching 26 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns in his college career before the Chicago Bears signed him as a UDFA following the 2024 NFL Draft. After catching six passes for 100 yards in that preseason, Bates was waived by the Bears and picked up by the Jets. A few months later, the Browns signed Bates to their active roster off of the Jets practice squad.

WR Demeer Blankumsee (Winton Woods), New England Patriots

A 2020 Winton Woods graduate who started his college career at Toledo before transferring to Memphis, Blankumsee signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent after the 2025 NFL draft. In 2024 at Memphis, he caught 45 passes for 677 yards and six touchdowns. In 2023, he grabbed 53 catches for 901 yards and seven touchdowns. He played in seven games last season, five for the Jets and two for the Browns. He was targeted once but has yet to grab his first career catch.

OG Jackson Carman (Fairfield), Miami Dolphins

Ohio's No. 1 prospect the class of 2018, Carman committed to Clemson University out of Fairfield and played three seasons there, winning a national title in 2018 and earning All-ACC honors in 2019 and 2020.

He chose to enter the NFL draft after his junior season, and the Cincinnati Bengals drafted him in the 2021 second round. He played in all 17 regular-season games and all four playoff games, including the Super Bowl, for the Bengals as a rookie during the 2021 season but played sparingly the next two seasons. The Bengals waived him before the 2024 season, and he later caught on with the Miami Dolphins, where he played in eight games and started one in 2024.

DB Bryan Cook (Mount Healthy), Kansas City Chiefs

Cook, who won Super Bowls in 2023 and 2024 with the Chiefs, spend his college career between the Howard Bison and the Cincinnati Bearcats. Kansas City selected him in the second round of the 2022 draft, and across his career so far he's played in 45 games and recorded 153 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and three interceptions. In 2024, he started all 17 regular season games for the Chiefs, pulling in two interceptions while recording 78 tackles. He grabbed an interception in the most recent Super Bowl, picking off a pass intended for A.J. Brown in the second quarter.

IOL Zeke Correll (Anderson), Minnesota Vikings

A four-star recruit and Ohio's No. 3 prospect in the 2019 class per 247Sports, Correll began his career at Notre Dame, starting 31 games across four seasons, before transferring to North Carolina State and starting all 13 games for the Wolfpack in 2024. He signed with the Vikings as a UDFA following the 2025 NFL draft. He was named third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference at center in 2024.

DB Mike Edwards (Winton Woods), Kansas City Chiefs

The Winton Woods alum spent his college career with the Kentucky Wildcats before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked him in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft. Edwards is a two-time Super Bowl champion, winning Super Bowl LV with the Buccaneers in 2020 and Super Bowl LVIII with the Chiefs in 2023. Across his thus-far six-year NFL career, Edwards has played for Tampa Bay, Kansas City and the Buffalo Bills, recording eight interceptions across 83 regular-season games. Edwards is expected to join fellow Cincinnatian Bryan Cook in the Chiefs' safety room in 2025 after he signed for his second stint with the team this offseason.

RB Kaleb Johnson (Hamilton), Pittsburgh Steelers

Johnson was solid in his first two seasons at Iowa, in 2022 and 2023, but he broke out to stardom in 2024, rushing for 1,537 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and 21 touchdowns for the Hawkeyes on the way to first-team all-conference and consensus All-American honors and the Big Ten Running Back of the Year award. The Steelers selected him in the third round of the most recent NFL draft. 

OT Paris Johnson Jr. (St. Xavier/Princeton), Arizona Cardinals

Johnson started his high school career at St. Xavier and transferred to Princeton his senior year. The No. 8 overall player and No. 1 offensive tackle in the high school class of 2020, according to 247Sports, Johnson spent his college career at Ohio State, earning All-Big Ten honors twice and consensus All-American recognition in 2022. The Cardinals traded up to select Johnson with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and he has since started 31 NFL games across two seasons.

OG Luke Kandra (Elder), Carolina Panthers

Kandra started his college career at Louisville before transferring home to Cincinnati for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. In both his years with the Bearcats, he won first-team All-Big 12 honors. His 33 bench-press reps at the most recent NFL draft combine paced all offensive linemen, and Kandra was whistled for just one penalty across his two years at UC. He signed with the Panthers after he was not selected in the 2025 NFL draft.

C Ryan Kelly (Lakota West), Minnesota Vikings

After winning a national championship and the Rimington Trophy (awarded yearly to college football's best center) in his final season at the University of Alabama in 2015, Kelly was selected in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He started 121 games for the Colts across nine seasons and earned Pro Bowl honors four times and second-team All-Pro honors in 2020. This offseason, Kelly agreed to a reported two-year, $18 million free agent deal with the Minnesota Vikings.

RB Corey Kiner (Roger Bacon), San Francisco 49ers

The former Ohio Mr. Football and Roger Bacon graduate signed a UDFA deal with the 49ers after he wasn't selected in the 2025 NFL draft. Kiner spent his freshman season at LSU in 2021 before transferring home to play for the Bearcats. Kiner had 2,882 total rushing yards in four seasons, including 1,047 in 2023 and 1,153 in 2024 for Cincinnati.

My favorite UDFA: RB Corey Kiner

Let me show you in just two clips that sum up the kind of running back Kiner is then show more highlights later. In early 2023 if you follow my college players list I had RB Corey Kiner right between my heating up 🌶️ & my sleepers 💤 list which pic.twitter.com/S3QCBNYRDV

— 49er_Edits (@49er_edits) April 29, 2025

TE Marshall Lang (St. Xavier), Seattle Seahawks

Lang, who signed with the Seahawks as a UDFA in 2025, spent the past five seasons at Northwestern, catching 48 passes for 491 yards and four touchdowns.

OLB David Long (Winton Woods), free agent

A high school teammate of Edwards, Long played his college career at West Virginia and was twice named first-team All-Big 12 and a second-team All-American (2017 and 2018). He also won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2018. The Tennessee Titans selected Long in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft and has since played 80 games with the Titans, Dolphins and Lions, recording 388 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, four interceptions and three forced fumbles. He is currently a free agent.

TE Michael Mayer (Covington Catholic), Las Vegas Raiders

Mayer starred at Covington Catholic, winning Gatorade Football Player of the Year in Kentucky in 2019, and went on to have a record-breaking career at Notre Dame, finishing his college career leading Notre Dame tight ends in career yards (2,009), catches (180) and touchdowns (18). He finished third overall on Notre Dame's receiving list with 180 receptions, doing so in only three seasons.

All of that success led him to be drafted 35th overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023. In two seasons with Las Vegas, Mayer has caught 72 passes for 460 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

LS Jake McQuaide (Elder), free agent

After spending his college career at Ohio State from 2006-2010, McQuaide signed with the then-St. Louis Rams as a UDFA following the 2011 NFL draft. Since, he has appeared in 197 NFL games across 14 seasons. He played 10 seasons for the Rams, two with the Dallas Cowboys and has also spent time with the Lions, Vikings and Miami Dolphins. He is currently a free agent.

RB David Montgomery (Mount Healthy), Detroit Lions

The former Mount Healthy standout won first-team All-American and All-Big 12 honors at Iowa State in 2017 and 2018 before the Chicago Bears picked him in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft. He rushed for 3,609 yards and 26 touchdowns in four seasons with Chicago, and after the 2022 season, he signed a three-year, $18 million free agent contract with the Lions. He's rushed for 1,790 yards and 25 touchdowns in the two seasons since, and in 2024, he was rewarded with a two-year, $18.25 million extension that keeps him with the Lions through 2027.

OT Thayer Munford (La Salle/Washington), Las Vegas Raiders

Munford started his high school career at La Salle before transferring to Massillon Washington for his senior season. After a five-year college career at Ohio State, which included All-American honors in 2021 and All-Big Ten honors in 2019, 2020 and 2021, he was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the seventh round in 2022. He has played in 46 games, starting 18, for the Raiders in three seasons since.

LB Ivan Pace Jr. (Colerain), Minnesota Vikings

After starring at Colerain, Pace spent the first three seasons of his college career at Miami University, earning all-conference honors in 2021 before transferring to CIncinnati for the 2022 season. In just one year with the Bearcats, Pace earned all-conference and unanimous All-American honors and was also awarded the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award. 

He went undrafted and signed with the Vikings before the 2023 season and has since vastly outperformed his UDFA status, tallying 174 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and two interceptions in 28 NFL games. 

CB Carrington Valentine (Moeller), Green Bay Packers

The Moeller alum spent his three-year college career at Kentucky before the Packers selected him in the 2023 draft's seventh round. He's played with the Packers in the two seasons since, recording 75 tackles, 14 passes defended, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in 32 games.

DB Malik Verdon (Hamilton/Moeller), Atlanta Falcons

Verdon, who started his high school career at Moeller before transferring to Hamilton, signed with the Falcons as a UDFA in 2025 after spending the past four seasons at Iowa State, where he played in 27 games and recorded 134 tackles, 10 pass defenses and three interceptions.

TE Josh Whyle (La Salle), Tennessee Titans

The former La Salle standout earned All-AAC honors with the Bearcats in both 2020 and 2022, and he caught 88 passes for 1,062 yards and 15 touchdowns across his four-year career with the Bearcats. The Tennessee Titans drafted him in the fifth round in 2023, and in 28 games and seven starts since, he has caught 37 passes for 342 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnatians ready for start of 2025 NFL training camps