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Bengals WR
Peter Warrick
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If a ritzy restaurant hires a famous chef, the last thing it should do is give him a
loaf of bread, a few slices of cheese and some roast beef and then ask the culinary genius
to create a gourmet meal.
The obvious next step is to provide him the necessary ingredients to earn a four-star
rating.
Quarterbacks are the head chefs of the NFL, and common sense says that to make them
successful, regardless of how talented they are, they should be handed the proper
ingredients.
The AFC Central just filled up its shopping basket with wide receivers, and the
quarterbacks of this division figure to be serving up tasty passes as a result.
The AFC Central features four teams with intriguing but unproven talent at the QB spot.
The AFC Central also features five teams that just significantly improved themselves at
wide receiver. This is a marriage made in football heaven. Fans should have thrown rice on
Draft Day.
The Bengals drafted WRs Peter Warrick and Ron Dugans in Rounds One and Three to join
Darnay Scott and Carl Pickens (who may finally get to complain his way out of town) on the
roster.
This means young QB Akili Smith should become somewhere between a star and a superstar
down the road — even if he plays in Cincinnati, where football misery seems to be as
much a constant as death, taxes and uncertainty over the Raiders’ future address.
Upon arriving at the Bengals’ practice complex, Warrick glanced at a hillside,
eyeballed the sunny sky and said, "Looks like California or something. I’m
looking at the hills and Hollywood."
When asked about being passed over by the Browns on Draft Day, Warrick said, "We
play Cleveland (in the season opener); I’m going to give them something. And
it’s at home too. I’ll give ’em something. We’re going to be
1-0."
Will wonders never cease. Optimism in Cincinnati. What’s next? Snow in Hawaii.
You’d better believe young Mr. Smith is smiling over Warrick’s arrival. It
would not be an upset if Smith and Warrick earn their way to snowless Hawaii for the Pro
Bowl sometime in the future.
The happiest quarterback in the AFC Central had to be Pittsburgh’s Kordell
Stewart. If the Steelers had selected Chad Pennington, as some experts thought might
happen, Stewart’s long-term future at quarterback was probably all but over. Instead,
the Steelers drafted WR Plaxico Burress. Instead of getting moved to wide receiver,
Stewart gets to throw to a bevy of fine, young wideouts. After constantly losing quality
wide receivers to free agency in the past, Stewart now gets to throw to the triple treat
of Burress, Troy Edwards and Hines Ward.
For the moment, Stewart is like the Nasdaq. It is impossible to tell if his play is
going to continue to plummet like a skydiver with a faulty parachute or if he’ll
rebound to deliver on the rich potential he once displayed. What we do know is that
Stewart still has the opportunity to make himself a quality performer, and the wideouts to
help him find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. That’s more than he ever
could have hoped for while he was sweating out his team’s first-round pick.
The Ravens had some talent at wideout but were lacking a true No. 1 wide receiver
heading into the draft. Problem solved. Travis Taylor should fill that role nicely for
whoever becomes the team’s quarterback of the future.
Will it be perennial tease Tony Banks, who showed surprising improvement last season?
Will it be Trent Dilfer, who could be the latest in a long line of ex-Buccaneers
quarterbacks to find success elsewhere? Will it be rookie Chris Redman, who was viewed as
a possible first-round pick at one time before his stock slipped?
At this point, it’s impossible to predict who the long-term answer will be. Play
rock, paper, scissors to settle the issue. Whoever emerges, though, should fare quite well
with QB guru Brian Billick providing guidance and Taylor providing big plays.
In Cleveland, superstar-in-the-making Tim Couch didn’t get a receiver in the top
10 picks of the draft, but there was a nice package under his Christmas tree in
productive, playmaking Dennis Northcutt, who was the first player taken in the second
round. Northcutt will join Kevin Johnson and Darrin Chiaverini, and although the Browns
may still need a No. 1 wideout down the road, a very nice unit is being developed.
Late in Round One, the Jaguars achieved the equivalent of adding hot fudge to a banana
split. Yummy overkill. The Jaguars’ version saw them draft WR R. Jay Soward, who is
as quick as a rumor on the Internet. If Soward had gone to a team where he was expected to
be a starter, his attitude would have concerned me. In Jacksonville, however, he will be
the No. 3 wide receiver behind pass-catching machine Jimmy Smith and the very productive
Keenan McCardell. Plus, Tom Coughlin is the kind of head coach who can rein in Soward. Add
it all up, and you have a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses and a spectacular luxury
for Jaguars QB Mark Brunell, who is still trying to prove he can lead his team to glory in
the postseason.
The only AFC Central team that did not significantly upgrade its wide receivers was
Tennessee, but the Titans already had Yancey Thigpen and Kevin Dyson, so shed no tears for
improving Steve McNair.
With quality wide receivers storming the AFC Central like Huns on the warpath,
cornerback becomes an area of ever-increasing importance in this neck of the woods.
In the here and now, the Titans are in terrific shape with rising star Samari Rolle and
a trio of other cornerbacks who are capable of starting. The Jaguars are also in a
position of strength with Fernando Bryant coming off a wonderful rookie season and Aaron
Beasley coming off a career year.
The Ravens are full of exciting potential with very young, very fast and very talented
corners in Chris McAlister and Duane Starks.
Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh would be wise to upgrade at cornerback in the
years to come. After all, the AFC Central has quickly become WR Central. |
