Monday, December 28, 1998Bengals picking third
Fifth top 5 pick in 8 years
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerIf the Cowboys are America's Team and the Broncos are Destiny's Team, then the Bengals are Mel Kiper's team.
For the fifth time in the past eight NFL drafts, the Bengals secured a top five pick Sunday with their 35-0 loss to Tampa Bay and the Giants' 20-10 victory over Philadelphia. Cincinnati has the third pick in the April 17-18, 1999 player selection meeting behind the expansion Browns and Eagles.
Kiper, an ESPN analyst, and other draft experts think there's a good chance Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch (if he leaves school early) and Texas running back Ricky Williams will be the top two picks. If Georgia junior cornerback/wide receiver Champ Bailey comes out early, he's the early favorite to become the newest Bengal.
But with their eye also on a quarterback, the Bengals may choose to trade down to get some extra picks.
The only thing made definitive by Sunday's result is next year's schedule and the Bengals get a much easier break than they did in 1998, when they played the last two Super Bowl champions in Green Bay and Denver and the odds-on favorite to win the next one in Minnesota.
This time they get three last-place finishers (the Colts, Rams, Chargers), and play their first game ever in Carolina against a Panthers' team that won just four games.
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