Sunday, February 21, 1999
Wanted: One good quarterback
Bengals talk with draft candidates
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS — You are Bengals head coach Bruce Coslet or offensive coordinator Ken Anderson and you are at the NFL scouting combine to find a quarterback of the future.
Now is when you start the task of deciding if one of the guys available is worth the third pick.
Figure Kentucky's Tim Couch is off the board by No.3. That leaves Oregon's strong-armed Akili Smith. There is also Syracuse's master of the option, Donovan McNabb, and Central Florida's Daunte Culpepper, a sturdy tight end-type who can improvise out of the pocket.
Those three guys are projected to be gone by the time the Bears pick seventh.
Then there is UCLA's Cade McNown, who could go any where between the 15th pick and when the Bengals pick in the second round.
Coslet loves him because he's feisty, competitive and he won even while the scouts said he was too short and had no arm.
So you are Coslet or Anderson and you are interviewing your job candidates Saturday.
So you ask McNown about that arm strength.
“It's better to have a guy who can anticipate who's going to be open and take a little off it and get it to the guy instead of a guy who sees something late and then drills it at the last minute,” McNown says. “That's hard on the receiver and unnecessary.”
You love to compete. You're supposed to be the Jake Plummer of this draft. What kind of leader are you?
“Any good leader is going to be a good listener,” McNown says.
“If you've got a good feel for what's going on on the team and what chemistry is brewing around, chances are you're going to say more intelligent things if you listen to people and it's a lot more likely they listen to you when you have something to say.”
What about being short?
“I don't have people coming under my chin and knocking me out,” McNown says. “I don't get hurt very much, probably because I can run around and not take those hits.”
You tell Smith the Bengals are looking to draft a quarterback, and you want to talk to him later tonight.
The Eagles, picking No. 2, also want to talk to him and they supposedly also covet him.
What about that name Akili?
In Swahili, “it means power, creativity and intelligence. My dad gave it to me.”
Since the 1970 merger, three black quarterbacks (Doug Williams, Andre Ware, Steve McNair) have been first-round picks.
On April 17, three black quarterbacks could be taken in the top 10. What's that mean?
“It means that people have realized we're smart enough to play the position,” Smith says. “I watch all (NFL quarterbacks). My favorite is (Randall) Cunningham. And John Elway. ... I like to say I'm Randall Cunningham with a quick release.”
You're doing what Ryan Leaf did last year. Coming out of nowhere in your final season.
“The thing I told the Redskins is that when Peyton Manning left camp, he left with a trunk full of tapes,” Smith says. “When Ryan Leaf left camp, he left with nothing. I want to be like Peyton Manning. I want to leave with all the tapes and break down film and get ready to play.”
Why are you going to work out (today) when most top picks don't?
“Everyone's here,” Smith says. “General Managers. Presidents. Offensive coordinators. I want to show them what I can do.”
How do you lead?
“Accountability,” Smith says. “Being on time for meetings. Work ethic.”
That may shock you coming from a future Bengal, but you continue on with the interviews.
You find Culpepper and tell him if the draft were today, you would pick a quarterback. You wonder if he's too big to play.
“Nobody's told me that,” Culpepper says. “It's a collision game. You're going to get hit. Now the teams are looking for guys to make plays after they get hit and when the pocket breaks down.”
Why won't you work out?
“I got the idea this was really only for physicals and interviews,” Culpepper says.
You didn't play against big-time competition in college.
“We ran a pro set, and my coach used to be a pro coach,” Culpepper says. “I think I can fit into the pro game.”
You wonder if McNabb can adjust. At Syracuse, he ran the speed option instead of a pro set.
“That's been exaggerated,” McNabb says. “We ran the option, but we ran it to perfection. Why stop if it's not broken? You just add on to the passing game. The last two years we threw for over 2,300 yards; that shows a passing game.”
You stopped playing basketball with Syracuse last spring. Did that help you with football?
“I had more time to focus on what I needed to work on,” McNabb says. “Watched more film, or I'd just go home and work on dropping five steps. ... Attention to detail.”
Why are you working out?
“I got nothing to hide,” McNabb says.
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