Posted by ESPN.com’s James Walker  

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and is “fired up” for this weekend’s festivities. He says he’s keeping up with other mock drafts and has his own mental notes of how things could play out.

Who does Palmer like for the Bengals at No. 9?

“I hope it’s Sedrick Ellis if he’s still there,” Palmer said of the USC defensive tackle. “He’s a tenacious player. He get a little bit knocked for his size, buy I think his size is an advantage to him because he gets such good leverage.”

Palmer said he’s happy with the receiving group of T.J. Houshmanzadeh, (potentially) Chad Johnson, Antonio Chapman, Doug Gabriel and Glen Holt. Still, the Bengals may look at adding a receiver in the first day because of the release of Chris Henry and possible holdout of Johnson.