Spending three consecutive second-round draft picks on cornerbacks has not healed a perennial Bengals weakness.

        So far, Artrell Hawkins, Charles Fisher and Mark Roman have not been the answer.

        Hawkins lost his starting job four games into the 2000 season. He did excel on special teams, and started the last two games when rookie Robert Bean was hurt.

        Fisher blew out his knee in the '99 opener at Tennessee, and hasn't played since.

        Roman was inactive for eight games before starting the final two games of 2000.

        The Bengals finished 23rd in passing yards allowed last year.

        If they look for corner help in the April 21-22 draft, Cincinnati will be looking at Mississippi State's Fred Smoot, widely considered the top corner available and a player with Bengals ties.

        Smoot shares a Starkville, Miss., apartment with Bean, the Bengals' fifth-round draft choice last year who started four games.

        Smoot, who's as loud as Bean is quiet, would like to play opposite Bean in the Cincinnati secondary. Two seasons ago, they were starting corners on the nation's top-ranked defense. A third member of the Bulldogs' defensive backfield, safety Ashley Cooper, is the third housemate in Starkville and is rehabbing a knee before going back to training camp with Tampa Bay.

        “Those guys really helped me prepare for the combine,” Smoot said over the weekend at Indianapolis, site of the annual NFL scouting combine.

        Smoot met with Bengals cornerbacks coach Kevin Coyle at the combine. Coyle is expected to attend Smoot's private workout March 20 in Mississippi.

        Coyle's boss, Bengals defensive coordinator Mark Duffner, wouldn't comment on specific cornerbacks but said there were several good ones coming out.

        “Agility, speed, athleticism” are what Duffner and the Bengals want in a cornerback. “But what Mike (Brown) has said is true. We're going to take the best player who's available at the time.”

        Other top cornerback prospects are Baylor's Gary Baxter, Ohio State's Nate Clements and Wisconsin's Jamar Fletcher.

        But if the Bengals want the best corner, Smoot's their man. Just ask him.

        “Whoever takes the first corner, I'll be there,” said Smoot, an All-America who had five interceptions but missed the Independence Bowl because he didn't meet minimum SEC academic requirements. “I'd love to come to Cincinnati and get at it one more time with Robert.”

        Bean is completing the final six hours toward a bachelor's degree in educational psychology. He's also working out and has added six pounds to his 178-pound frame. He wants to come into camp at 188, which would allow him to be more physical with receivers.

        For now, Bean and Rodney Heath figure to be listed as the top cornerbacks. Heath started nine consecutive games before injuring his shoulder and missing the last three.

        Veteran Tom Carter, who makes $2.2 million a year, probably will be a salary cap release.

        Smoot, who's 6-foot, 180 pounds, is nicknamed “The Show.” When he makes a good play, he celebrates. When Bean makes a good play, well, he just makes a good play.

        Smoot is from Jackson, Miss., and puts himself in the company of two other Mississippi natives who did rather well in the NFL, Walter Payton and Jerry Rice.

        “We don't put out quantity, we put out quality,” said Smoot, who also was asked if he could cover Rice, a 16-year veteran. “Yes, I can. No problem.”

        The confidence shifted to reverence, and Smoot said, “Especially now.”

Next for Bengals: Evaluate, negotiate Smoot best CB in draft

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