Joey Harrington might be a Bengal, after all.

        If the second-rated quarterback in the NFL draft still is on the board when the Bengals pick 10th Saturday, it might be tough to choose someone else — probably Miami (Fla.) cornerback Phillip Buchanon — over him.

IF AT FIRST ...?

Quarterbacks the Bengals drafted in the first round:     • Greg Cook, University of Cincinnati, 1969, fifth overall — Won AFL passing title as a rookie but suffered rotator cuff injury the following year in training camp, which ended his career. Didn't retire until after the 1974 season.     • Jack Thompson, Washington State, 1979, third overall — Played four seasons and threw 13 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions, completing just 47 percent of his passes.     • David Klingler, University of Houston, 1992, sixth overall — Also played four seasons in Cincinnati. Drafted to replace Boomer Esiason. Klingler threw for 3,880 yards, 16 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.     • Akili Smith, Oregon, 1999, third overall — Has made 21 appearances in three seasons with 16 starts. Benched after 10 games in 2000. Spent most of 2001 season as emergency third quarterback. Made one start against the Jets and led offense on an 80-yard touchdown drive.

        At a news conference Thursday, Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said Harrington's potential availability would cause lively discussion in the team's draft room.

        “I certainly would want to talk about him at length,” LeBeau said. “I think he's an excellent player. He's at a position that is always a position of need in this league.”

        Especially in Cincinnati, where the Bengals have only two healthy quarterbacks — incumbent starter Jon Kitna and career backup Scott Covington. Akili Smith is recovering from major hamstring surgery but is expected to be ready for training camp.

        “And that's just where we are,” LeBeau said. “We have a little bit of a question mark there. We would be looking for depth at the quarterback spot in this draft at some spot.”

        If not Oregon's Harrington, the Bengals are likely to take a quarterback in the second round or later — namely Illinois' Kurt Kittner, Tulane's Patrick Ramsey or LSU's Rohan Davey.

        The odds of Harrington going to the Bengals went up slightly Thursday when ESPN.com reported that a possible trade of New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe to Buffalo could be a done deal before the draft.

        The Bills would get Bledsoe from the Patriots in exchange for Buffalo's third-round pick — reportedly the best offer New England has received. The Bengals were considered a serious suitor but backed out in the past two weeks.

        “The reason Drew's talk has died down is, we had to get ready for the draft,” LeBeau said. “Until he signs with somebody else, he's a possibility for somebody. It was time for us to focus on the draft.”

        Harrington would become the fifth quarterback drafted in the first round by the Bengals, and none of the previous four distinguished himself.

        In 1969, Greg Cook from UC was the Bengals' first stab at a first-round quarterback.

        Ten years later, the Bengals took Jack Thompson from Washington State.

        In 1992 Bengals president Mike Brown surprised his staff by taking David Klingler from Houston.

        Then, in 1999, came Smith, who is trying to resurrect his career after three poor seasons.

        The best Bengals quarterback drafts were not first-rounders. Ken Anderson was a third-round pick from Augustana (Ill.) in 1971, and Boomer Esiason was a second-rounder from Maryland in 1984.

        “Kenny had a splendid career. Boomer has an outstanding career,” Brown said. “Greg Cook was the best talent the Bengals ever had, but he got hurt.

        “We hit the ball a time or two. Then we didn't hit it. It doesn't dissuade me (that) you can't get a good quarterback high in the draft.”

        Cook, now 55 and living in Hyde Park, said he wouldn't want to be making the decision whether to draft a quarterback.

        “It's the most difficult position to draft,” he said. “You don't know if he's peaked or if he has room to grow.”

        Cook won the AFL passing title as a rookie, with 1,854 yards and 15 touchdowns. But a torn rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder ended his career the following training camp. He played briefly again in 1973, completing one pass in three attempts.

        Of the four No. 1s, Klingler was the most disappointing. He did not return repeated phone messages left on his cell phone this week.

        Klingler was the first player Brown drafted after the death of his father, Paul Brown.

        “That was a hard one,” Mike Brown said of Klingler. “He could do some great things athletically. He didn't get the protection he needed. That was a big negative. I wish he had been successful for us.”

        Klingler played for some of the worst Bengals teams in history. They were 18-46 during his time there, 1992-96. He was sacked 10 times in his debut and 73 more times before he left via free agency.

        “The thing about the draft, the higher you go, the worse team you go to,” Klingler told the Enquirer in 1999. “It's not very often you get hooked up with a very good team.”

        Like Klingler, Thompson lasted only four seasons in Cincinnati. He struggled when trying to prove he could replace Anderson, and Anderson, the current Bengals quarterbacks coach, re-established himself in 1981 and led the franchise to its first Super Bowl.

        The Bengals were 6-10 last season, and Brown and LeBeau say they are a consistent pass offense away from playoff contention.

        A rookie quarterback — such as Harrington — would need time to develop. The Bengals are in a position to take players, such as Buchanon or Wisconsin defensive tackle Wendell Bryant, who would make an immediate contribution.

        “It takes a quarterback a little bit longer, generally speaking,” LeBeau said. “At the same time, I don't think that is going to be a deciding factor. If you can develop a quarterback — Harrington, or you could pull out another name — and he became a top-ranked quarterback, and you would enjoy the benefits of having one of the top quarterbacks for 10 years, we'd all jump on that.

        “But there's an unknown. We don't know who that is or if that will happen. It's certainly worth the investment of a year or two.”

DAUGHERTY: Bengals draft LeBeau says Harrington worth look Q&A with Dick LeBeau Area draft hopefuls can only wait and watch Who wants to be a millionaire? Not him Former Browns player wins lawsuit against brokerage firm Randle El ready to make move Teams looking to move up and down in first round NFL notes: James on schedule for return to Colts

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