Tuesday, March 16, 1999
Steinberg: QBs could be taken 1-2-3 in draft
Will Smith be around at No. 3 for Bengals?
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PHOENIX — Leigh Steinberg, who has represented one-third of the Bengals' first picks in the NFL draft since 1987, won't be surprised if he's reunited with Mike Brown again next month when client Akili Smith is on the board.
Steinberg, here for the NFL's annual meetings, predicted the first three picks in the April draft will be quarterbacks.
The Bengals, who pick third, like Smith, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound strong-armer from Oregon. Steinberg isn't the only one in the NFL who now thinks there's a 50-50 chance the expansion Browns will take Smith No.1 instead of Kentucky's Tim Couch.
Steinberg has a good feel for these sorts of things. Five years ago at these meetings, Steinberg predicted that his client, Ohio State defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson, would go No.1 when everyone was saying it would be San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk. A month later, Cincinnati made Wilkinson the first pick.
“He may not be there at three,” Steinberg said of Smith. “If the draft were held today, in no particular order it would be Akili Smith, Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb. But from what I understand (Bengals offensive coordinator), Ken Anderson has been out there looking at everyone. So we're not really sure.”
One thing is for sure. Steinberg seems eternally linked to the Bengals. Their drafting of a quarterback probably means Neil O'Donnell, another Steinberg quarterback client, will get cut.
“In some previous incarnation, I was connected to the Cincinnati Bengals. It figures,” Steinberg said. “But that's OK. I feel like I've grown up with (Bengals President) Mike Brown.”
The Bengals are saying nothing publicly, but their decision to give Jeff Blake his $500,000 roster bonus indicates they will cut O'Donnell and his $2.8 million salary once they sign their rookie quarterback. Steinberg, who got O'Donnell a job last year in Cincinnati even though he was cut after June 1, hopes they get the signing done soon after the draft. He knows how difficult that is on a quarterback learning a system.
Brown will say only that the Bengals won't do anything until they have to, which means once they have the rookie signed, they can make some moves. If the cut is coming, Steinberg hopes it's sooner rather than later.
“There's nothing to say on Neil except that we're under contract, and if the Bengals want him back, that's great,” Steinberg said. “June 1 is really a negative result, because it's way too difficult in terms of placement. But we have no power or say in this.”
Smith raised eyebrows at last month's scouting combine when he lifted his grade on the intelligence test from 12 to 37. Steinberg said Smith was tutored like a high school student preparing for the SAT, and he said Smith's performance should be a positive because it showed he can study and learn.
“The first time, he was a little bit cavalier about it, but for a quarterback more than, say, a defensive lineman, it's quite important,” Steinberg said. “It's the first time we've ever done it, but we decided to prepare for it like running a 40-yard dash or passing. We just got him in a test-taking mode.”
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