Sunday, April 11, 1999
Bengals best athlete plan words in Round 2
Team has done better then than in Round 1
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If the Bengals' first-round picks had turned out like their second-round picks, the 1990s might have been a decade of dominance instead of doom.
Harold Green. Carl Pickens. Darnay Scott. Corey Dillon. Two Pro Bowlers in Green and Pickens, an AFC Rookie of the Year in Dillon, and a consistent deep threat in Scott.
SECOND BEST
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The Bengals have picked more productive players in the second round than the first this decade. Here's a comparison of some of their first and second round picks this decade:
1990 — James Francis, Harold Green
1992 — David Klinger, Carl Pickens
1994 — Dan Wilkinson, Darnay Scott
1995 — Ki-Jana Carter, Corey Dillon
1997 — Reinard Wilson, Artrell Hawkins
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Throw in Tony McGee and Artrell Hawkins, and you wonder what might have happened if David Klingler, Dan Wilkinson, Ki-Jana Carter and Reinard Wilson offered similar production.
“At that point with most of those guys in the second round, we weren't looking for a need, but the best player,” said Bengals President Mike Brown. “And it worked out. I think in the first round there's so much more pressure and scrutiny and expectation, it's tougher for things to work out.”
But the Bengals don't have that best-player-on-the-board-flexibility this year. With negotiations stalled on Ashley Ambrose and Ryan McNeil, they need a starting corner at the top of the second round with the 33rd pick.
“Plus, in free agency, teams are filling voids instead of needs,” said Jim Lippincott, the Bengals' director of pro and college scouting. “And you've got fewer rounds.”
The problem for the Bengals this year is five corners could be gone by the end of the first round. Champ Bailey, Chris McAlister and Antoine Winfield are locks. They would love Alabama's Fernando Bryant, but he probably won't make it past Jacksonville at No. 26
“There's not many second-round corners,” Lippincott said.
They liked Vanderbilt's Fred Vinson, but a broken foot prevents him from working out until after the draft. That leaves them looking at West Virginia's Charles Fisher, North Carolina's Dre Bly and USC's Daylon McCutcheon.
Which means they hope the 6-foot Fisher is still in play. Word is he's not a great tackler and has trouble playing off receivers, but he runs a 4.48-second 40-yard dash and can cover burners.
“What you like to see is how much he's improved in the last year,” Lippincott said. “He's got the size and speed you like and he may not be a Hall of Fame tackler, but he's good enough.”
The 5-foot-10 Bly isn't as fast and the 5-8 McCutcheon isn't as big, which has the Bengals worried. Look at the first-round corners and except for the 5-8 Winfield, they are 5-11 or bigger.
“I think there'll be four corners in the first round,” said Bengals defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. “There'll be guys there for us, but they won't be big guys. Bly's got a lot of interceptions (an ACC-record 20) and (McCutcheon) held up all right in a passing league.”
If Fisher's not there, they probably can't convince themselves Bly and McCutcheon are good enough. So look for the Bengals to go the best-player-available route that brought Pickens in 1992 and Dillon in 1997.
Both years, the Bengals were looking for something else. In '92, the Colts took Ambrose off the board at No. 29, so the Bengals took Pickens at No. 31. In '97, the Bengals thought quarterback Jake Plummer was was going to fall into their laps at No. 43. But the Cardinals grabbed him at No. 42 and Dillon was a Bengal.
And there could be non-cornerbacks out there who can help, such as Notre Dame tackle Luke Petitgout, Michigan wide receiver Tai Streets and champagne would be uncorked if Saginaw Valley State defensive end Lamar King was still there.
And could Tennessee wide receiver Peerless Price become the Pickens and Scott of '99 if he falls past Atlanta at No. 30?
But Fisher may end up in the second round because of the presence of Clemson's Antwan Edwards, a 6-foot, 210-pound pure safety the NFL figures to try at corner first because of his size. He locked up a first-round berth with a solid season on the corner, including holding off North Carolina State receiver and fellow No. 1 pick Torry Holt.
“Fisher might be there,” Lippincott said, “but I wouldn't bet my house on it.”
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