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By Christopher Witflee
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Justin Smith walked onto the stage at the NFL Draft in New York City April 21 looking like the sixth contestant in a game of Russian roulette with the gun just handed to him and everyone else still alive. He'd been selected by the Bengals.
Since then, Smith has regained his footing and now smiles during the interviews. He knows he'll play football for a signing bonus of around $10 million. And he even says he'll be in camp on time. Note to Justin: It takes two to keep that promise.
Smith's problem, of course, is that the Bengals are the team no one wants to join. Free agents report that Cincinnati is a nice place for dinner and a limo ride but they wouldn't want to actually sign a contract there. Too bad kids out of college aren't left that kind of choice. Someone has to deal with the Bengals, and Smith was the guy who ended up wearing a Bengals cap and a look of shock on draft day.
Later, Smith recounted that he liked defensive line coach Tim Krumrie's personal wrestling test. And if Smith's great performances at Missouri weren't enough to make him worthy of at least being the fourth overall selection, then Krumrie's recommendation certainly sealed the deal.
But Smith isn't going to like the losing or the ineptitude that pervades the franchise. Maybe he can do something to change all that, but it's a lot to ask from a kid who's still only 21. The good news for Smith is that, being a defensive player, he'll be able to hit back.
The good news for the Bengals is that the draft broke for them pretty well. Not that they did all that much with it. Anyone can point to areas they didn't address, which is a pretty easy game to play because they need just about everything.
The Bengals missed out on Texas offensive tackle Leonard Davis, who's 370 pounds and pretty good in the college game but lacks agility and tires out against quick opposition. The Arizona Cardinals chose Davis, sparing the Bengals that decision.
So the Bengals took Smith, a safe pick who comes to the Bengals with experience as the best player on a bad team. Everyone is high on Smith's motor and his lunch pale approach to football and, again, he never stopped playing just because his team was no good. The Bengals need to win plays before they can worry about winning games, and Smith takes that approach.
Missouri beat only three teams last year. The first, Western Illinois, was a gimme. The second, Oklahoma State, was in shambles. The third, Baylor, is hopeless. But Smith started 33 straight games at Missouri, beginning as a freshman, totaling 22 1/2 sacks. Some scouts say he's a little too small, but he's 6-4 and 270 pounds, so that sounds like a quibble.
Last weekend's draft actually began a few days early, when the San Diego Chargers got cold feet and traded the top pick, the only chance for Michael Vick, to the Atlanta Falcons for multiple picks. The new Chargers general manager, John Butler, essentially reversed a famous mistake made by the former regime, which traded away decent players and good draft picks to move up one spot and take Ryan Leaf in 1998.
Leaf might be the biggest disaster in NFL draft history. He played about half the time last year, when the Chargers finished 1-15. The Chargers have since released him and signed Doug Flutie.
The Chargers would love to develop a young quarterback, and Vick has star power. But he's only 6-foot, has small hands, runs before he reads and only time will tell if his game is a match for the pro game.
Pro football is so much bigger, faster and smarter than the college game that one is just a little skeptical about a meteor like Vick. Praised for his charisma and natural leadership, his mechanics and preparation have been questioned. But he's only 20. A good quarterbacks coach can make him a star.
One never knows with quarterbacks. Last fall, Chris Weinke won the Heisman Trophy and Josh Heupel won the national championship. But neither name was called in the first three rounds last Saturday. Both sat out the Senior Bowl, which killed them. Nobody likes Heupel's deep ball and Weinke turns 29 in July, so he can't be a long-term commitment.
Carolina finally took Weinke in the fourth round, and Miami selected Heupel in the sixth. Heupel, in fact, was the last quarterback taken.
Atlanta started the draft by choosing Vick, which will excite its languid following, and the Chargers took Texas Christian running back LaDainian Tomlinson with the fifth pick. And, one imagines, the Chargers couldn't believe their eyes as the later picks in the first round unfolded. Players like Casey Hampton, Ryan Pickett and Reggie Wayne, who didn't show up that high in a lot of mock drafts, were being called by the league's better teams. When the Chargers came up at the start of the second round, Purdue's Drew Brees still was available, so they took him and ended up with their quarterback project anyway.
In a similar vein, the Bengals had to be surprised by the availability of Oregon State wide receiver Chad Johnson when they came up in the second round, for many mocks had Johnson already gone by then. Among the Bengals' many needs, a threat opposite Peter Warrick was pretty obvious. Then again, Darnay Scott is pretty good, if he returns from injury. And the Bengals still are shaky as to who will throw the ball to any of them, but Johnson still makes them better than they were a year ago.
With their third round pick, the Bengals chose San Jose State tight end Sean Brewer. Pro Football Weekly's report on Brewer says he "drops too many balls," which makes him an ideal replacement for Tony McGee.
It's always tough to assess the Bengals' draft, because they always enter with so many needs that their share of picks can't even address most of them. They needed a pass rusher, so they took Smith. But did they really need another wide receiver if Scott is supposed to return? And, if McGee returns from injury, did they really need a tight end who's said to drop too many balls?
Like a lot of teams, though, the Bengals need help in their secondary. Over the course of Saturday's first three rounds, 22 defensive backs were picked -- six in the first round, seven in the second and nine in the third. None of them went to the Bengals, who have re-signed Artrell Hawkins and Tom Carter while reportedly trying to bag Walt Harris as a free agent. But the Bengals have spent a lot of picks on the defensive backfield in recent years and a lot of them are still around, so maybe they'll develop.
The Bengals also have re-signed 36-year-old John Jackson as their left tackle. He took a two-year deal, and it's hoped he can stay healthy enough to hold them over until the Bengals find a youngster in the next couple drafts.
On the draft's second day, the Bengals spent their fourth-round pick on running back Rudi Johnson, a one-year wonder at Auburn who gives them a little wiggle room in case they need an alternative to Corey Dillon. He isn't known as a speed merchant, but he led the Southeastern Conference in rushing last year.
The way the Bengals end up moving people around the offensive line, they can always use another player like Victor Leyva, their fifth-round pick from Arizona State. Leyva played right guard and tackle in college and made all Pac-10 last year. He fits in with the Bengals as a guard and center.
Defensive end Riall Johnson led the Pac-10 with 15 sacks last year at Stanford, but he weighs only 236 pounds. That probably means he can't play every down in the NFL, but if he knows how to find the quarterback the Bengals will find a role for him.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the Oregon State wide receiver taken by the Bengals in the seventh round, will either surprise or not. If he doesn't, he doesn't figure to be around long.
Only the practices and games of the future will tell the value of many selections, but the Bengals evidently drafted for depth -- and they aren't even very good on the first string. Not that anyone expects to find starters in the late rounds, but the Bengals started looking for depth in the second round. They ended up with one player, Smith, who can be expected to contribute a lot.
Another 45 drafts like this, and they'll have a pretty good team.
Contact bill peterson: letters@citybeat.com
