By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Quarterback Jon Kitna was happy to greet new Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, left, following Lewis' introductory news conference, Friday, Jan. 17, 2003, in Cincinnati. (AP file photo) | ZOOM |

While keeping open the possibility that the Bengals might draft a quarterback in the first round, coach Marvin Lewis said Jon Kitna would open the 2003 season as the starter.

Unlike the past two years, there will be no training-camp competition at QB.

"Jon has the job, and even if you pick one of those guys, our football team isn't in the situation right now to have a rookie starting quarterback," Lewis said Monday. "Our opportunity to win some football games is right now, and history proves it's difficult for (rookie starters) to do it."

Lewis said the Bengals are studying their options for the first overall pick - and they include Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer of Southern California and Byron Leftwich of Marshall.

"We've got a big interest in Carson Palmer," Lewis said when asked if the team would draft the QB or trade the pick. "He's one of the better players coming out. He would fit a need for the future of our franchise at some point.

"Byron Leftwich is another guy who has a lot of ability."

Lewis also mentioned Michigan State wide receiver Charles Rogers while talking about Palmer and Leftwich.

"There's a few guys who have that kind of ability, who have a chance to be a significant upgrade and future Pro Bowl guys," Lewis said. "With that first pick, you've got to pick an impact guy. Obviously, the quarterback position is a little different because you have a timing factor there."

Rogers, who caught a school-record 68 passes for 1,351 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2002, received the Biletnikoff Award - presented annually to college football's top receiver. He would be another receiver for Kitna, who threw for 233 or more yards in nine of his 12 starts last season.

Kitna, who had started 15 games in 2001, lost a training-camp competition with Gus Frerotte in August. Frerotte started the first three games, and Akili Smith the fourth, a stretch in which the Bengals scored 23 total points. The team averaged 21.3 per game in Kitna's starts.

Lewis told Kitna not to "look over his shoulder" and that the job is his.

"I feel comfortable with that, as comfortable as you can feel in this business," Kitna said from his Tacoma, Wash., home. "To have a quarterback competition every year, just to have it, I'm of the opinion that it handicaps your team and the progress it can make."

Kitna beat out Scott Mitchell for the job in 2001.

Other Bengals offensive players greeted Lewis' early announcement as a positive sign. It's seen as a change from the instability at quarterback that contributed to the team's slow start in 2002.

"Jon can get us where we want to go - to the playoffs - and he has done it before," Bengals right tackle Willie Anderson said from his Atlanta home. "We got going once he got warmed up last year. Offensive linemen were more comfortable when he got in there. The receivers were more comfortable. (Kitna) knew we needed a go-to receiver, and he willed Chad Johnson into that role."

In his second NFL season, Johnson led the Bengals with 69 receptions and 1,166 yards.

"That would be the best way to go," Johnson said of Kitna's role. "Our best chance of winning right now is with Jon as the starter."

The Bengals finished last season with the league's No. 13 ranking in pass yards (217.3 per game). And Kitna's performance projected over 16 starts would have led the Bengals to a No. 7 ranking in net passing yards. For the first time in franchise history, five players had at least 40 receptions.

The Bengals aren't expected to re-sign Frerotte, whose one-year contract will expire Feb. 27, but they do have two other quarterbacks on their roster - Akili Smith and Joe Germaine.

Smith, the Bengals' No. 3 overall pick in 1999, has struggled in four NFL seasons. He and Lewis have talked on the phone.

"He has a new lease on life," Lewis said of Smith. "He has new coaches, and that's a good thing for him. I think he's excited about that. He always has to apply himself. I would say he would admit he hasn't applied himself very well.

"There is a responsibility that comes with being a quarterback in the NFL. It's bigger than anyone else has. If he can come and prove he can play quarterback, he'll be fine. We like good players. He was taken for a reason. There has been time and money invested in him."

Smith couldn't be reached for comment.

While offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski has been retained for a third season, the Bengals have a new quarterbacks coach - Ken Zampese.

Former quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson wasn't retained and signed a contract to coach quarterbacks for the Jacksonville Jaguars' QBs.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

The unstable QB position

1997: Boomer Esiason leads the team to four victories in five starts down the stretch. But he retires after the season to enter the Monday Night Football booth.

1998: Three different quarterbacks start for the Bengals - Jeff Blake, Neil O'Donnell and Paul Justin.

1999: Akili Smith misses training camp in a rookie-contract holdout but replaces Blake as the starter in Game 5. Smith's season ends with a turf toe injury after four starts.

2000: Smith is handed the job heading into training camp, and the Bengals finish last in the league in passing. Smith is benched after 10 games. Scott Mitchell starts five of the final six games.

2001: Jon Kitna wins training-camp derby over Mitchell and starts 15 games. Bengals finish 23rd in passing.

2002: Gus Frerotte wins three-way training-camp competition over Kitna and Smith. Frerotte and Smith start first four games and throw one touchdown pass and seven interceptions. A different quarterback starts three consecutive games (Games 3-5).

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