Sunday, February 27, 2000Burress intrigues Bengals
But Brown still wants to keep Pickens
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerINDIANAPOLIS — The Bengals are looking for a wide receiver and safety in the first four rounds of April's NFL draft.
If they took Michigan State receiver Plaxico Burress, they could get two for the price of one. Burress could be available when the Bengals pick No. 4 in the first round.
“In high school I was an All-American safety, not an All-American receiver,” Burress said Saturday at the NFL scouting combine. “If they want me to, I'll go both ways.”
He might not go either way for the Bengals. Team president Mike Brown sounded more adamant than ever about refusing to give up Carl Pickens, and expects his disgruntled receiver to fulfill the obligations of the five-year deal he signed last September.
“I don't know if we're in position to change direction when we have other things to do that take precedence,” Brown said.
Translation: Cornerback and safety are bigger holes at the moment. The Baltimore Ravens appear ready to give the Bengals a second-round pick for Pickens; which means that if the Bengals don't go with Burress at No. 4, they could get a cornerback and wide receiver with two second-round picks.
The Bengals think the draft has solid starting receivers ranging from mid-first round to mid-second round, from Nos. 12 to 40. Some Bengals coaches privately say they're still ready to ditch Pickens, even if they must play unproven second-year men Craig Yeast and Damon Griffin opposite Darnay Scott.
But then there's the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Burress, who has been called Randy Moss Jr.
On one hand, the Bengals have been watching a 30-pass sequence on tape in which Burress drops nine passes. They also weren't bowled over with his interview this weekend and are concerned about his speed.
But Burress loves to block, has 4 percent body fat and can leap with the best. And as he says, “I can go out there and run and catch like I weigh 200 pounds.”
He also has an explanation for the butterfingers.
“The first four games I had a thumb injury,” he said. “I dropped nine balls in the first four games. In the next seven games I only dropped one. I had a cast on my thumb and my wrist was heavily taped. I don't have a problem with (catching).”
Burress also has taken heat for being a moody practice player and for thumping his chest after key catches. But he sounded sincere Saturday when he said he beat his chest in honor of his grandmother who died two years ago. When told some foes took offense, Burress said, “I don't care.”
Buress, named after an uncle who survived three Army tours in Vietnam, has climbed the draft board since the Spartans' season ended. But he won't go ahead of Florida State's Peter Warrick, a player Burress said is “the most electrifying player in college ball.”
The Bengals were impressed in interviews with Warrick's Florida State teammates, Laveranues Coles and Ron Dugans. They could be there in the third round. Coles has had some brushes with the law, but the Bengals were impressed with how he confronted the problems with his candor during the interview.
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