Thrusday, January 07, 1999
Bengals take pass on Couch
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Don't look for the Bengals to hope Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch slides from No.1 to No.3 in April's NFL draft.
The club can't talk about Couch until he declares today he's coming out of college. But after a season in which the Bengals mastered the five-yard dump pass, there have been rumblings management is uncomfortable with the number of short passes Couch threw as a Wildcat.
“There's the specter of David Klingler that bothers the Bengals,” said Jerry Jones, the NFL draft analyst who sat in Cincinnati's draft room in 1992 when they selected Klingler with the sixth pick.
Klingler broke every NCAA passing record imaginable out of the University of Houston's run-and-shoot offense before he broke Bengals' fans hearts with a 4-20 record as a starting quarterback.
“They would worry about Hal Mumme's offense that's like a run-and-shoot,” Jones said. “(Couch has) a wonderful completion per centage, but he puts too much air under his long tosses. He threw too many interceptions (17).”
ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper has said pro scouts wonder if Couch is a product of his offense. Yet he is the best prospect in a draft of mostly competent quarterbacks.
Couch, who flew to Cleveland Wednesday, told the Louisville Courier-Journal, “I guess I really want to feel confident that I'm going to be with Cleveland if I come out.
“I think if I feel real confident that that's going to happen, it's hard to turn down being the No. 1 draft pick, so I'd probably lean toward going that way if I feel confident about it. If I don't, I'll probably come back and do it again at Kentucky.”
But Couch's mother, Janice, called reports her son would turn pro were “pretty much accurate.”
As for the Bengals, Jones sees them taking Georgia cornerback Champ Bailey at No.3 and believes a solid quarterback prospect will still be available in the second round: Oregon's Akili Smith, Syracuse's Donovan McNabb or UCLA's Cade McNown.
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 Bengals take pass on Couch
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