The Cincinnati Bengals are expected to announce Southern Cal quarterback Carson Palmer as their No. 1 draft pick any day now, and Bears Hall of Famer Dan Hampton wants general manager Jerry Angelo to do something to stop them.
Hampton saw coach Dick Jauron at a party and told him: “I made a living out of hating quarterbacks, but I’d do everything I could to get this guy. There’s just something about him. I’ve got this vibe.”
Hampton, the Bears’ first-round pick in the No. 4 spot in 1979, identifies with Palmer’s fast rise from also-ran to Heisman Trophy winner.
“When I entered my senior year [at Arkansas], I wasn’t projected to go in the top two or three rounds,” Hampton said. “I smelled the coffee and made such rapid progress. Maybe that’s why I have such affinity for the guy. I can see how you can develop.”
Hampton figures the Bengals would be open to trading down three spots and taking either Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich or Kansas State cornerback Terence Newman.
“Do what you have to do to make it happen,” Hampton said. “When I think of great quarterbacks–Troy Aikman, John Elway, Terry Bradshaw, Brett Favre–that’s who this kid is going to be. If there ever has been a time to go get a guy who will be the franchise, this is it.”
Hampton is not charging the Bears for his advice. He also is not enamored of free agent Kordell Stewart.
“How did Pittsburgh let him go?” Hampton asked. “Here we go again. We pick up scraps. I’d like to see us take the bone from the other dogs for once. We keep putting down particle board when we should be laying a foundation.”
Kramer on Kordell: Erik Kramer, the first of the Bears’ free-agent quarterbacks, isn’t sold on the latest either. Kramer, who runs a passing camp for high school quarterbacks in California, sent this e-mail regarding Stewart:
“When he was pressed by Tommy Maddox and others prior to and during the season, he seemed to wither away. . . . Then [the Bears] try to remove all competitive roadblocks like Jim Miller from the mix. The problem is that Kordell has been his own roadblock. Does anyone honestly believe that John Shoop holds the magic dust to sprinkle on Kordell’s career-resurrection project?
“I don’t know why they wouldn’t try to get some serviceable free agent, then try to get Kyle Boller from Cal. And would it be the end of the world if they didn’t get the quarterback they wanted this year? There are still plenty of holes to fill. I know it’s important in the NFL to have a quality quarterback. But are Brad Johnson or Trent Dilfer the only quarterbacks that could have won a title with their respective Super Bowl teams? This move by the Bears suggests that heavily investing in a quarterback coming off a non-year and loaded with question marks is better than investing in other parts of the team until a solid quarterback can be acquired.”
But wait: Before anybody is too tough on Stewart, maybe they will want to wait until draft day, when Stewart will make his first appearance in a Bears uniform and try to prove the critics wrong once and for all.
Stewart will compete against NFL Quarterback Challenge defending champion Jeff Garcia of San Francisco, new Arizona quarterback Jeff Blake, New England’s Tom Brady, Jacksonville’s Mark Brunell, Detroit’s Joey Harrington and Tampa Bay’s Johnson in the Challenge.
The quarterbacks will compete head to head in four events: accuracy, speed and mobility, distance and “no huddle,” a new addition this year. It was taped Saturday in Santa Monica, Calif., and will air on CBS July 19-20.
Suggs still slow: Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs ran no faster Friday in a second workout than he did March 26. Suggs set an NCAA record with 24 sacks when he weighed 248. Now 10 pounds heavier, he is hoping to change the minds of personnel experts like Angelo, who said last month he was “very disappointed.”
Suggs ran three 40-yard dashes Friday, timed officially at 4.87, 4.90 and 4.89 seconds.
“Really, nothing has changed from last time,” Angelo said. “He just can’t run fast. How important is that? Everybody has to make their own decision.”
Several observers had Suggs consistently a bit faster, in the low to middle 4.8s. Suggs weighed in at 257.8 pounds. Kentucky’s 320-pound defensive tackle, Dewayne Robertson, clocked 4.84 in his March workout.
The Cardinals, drafting sixth, remain interested. Defensive line coach and Hall of Famer Joe Greene helped conduct Friday’s workout.
Trading down: If the Bears want to trade down, they will have a good chance to extract the 17th and 18th picks, at least, from the New Orleans Saints, who would love to jump up to No. 4 to grab Robertson. They see Robertson as a bigger, stronger, faster version of Tampa Bay’s Warren Sapp. The Saints are one of three teams, along with the Patriots and Raiders, that have two No. 1 picks, the necessary ammunition to move up.
But in general, Jauron believes it’s better to take the one potentially great player.
“I don’t think there are a lot of special guys,” he said. “I think if you have a chance to get one, he can impact a game. In my opinion, I think you take the special guy because you don’t know when you’re going to get another chance. . . . Impact players are hard to find. If you get a chance to get one, I would trade two good players for one impact player.”
A lesson: Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi still recalls the 1975 draft when he was with the Baltimore Colts and selected guard Ken Huff third, passing up Walter Payton because the Colts already had Lydell Mitchell.
“That was a great education for me, because you just can’t pass up great players,” Accorsi said.
Rogers confident: Michigan State receiver Charles Rogers is treating his diluted urine sample at the NFL combine like it never happened.
“I’m in the same situation as I was last week; I will go no lower than [second],” Rogers said. “I think there’s a possibility Houston will move up to No. 1 to get me, and if they don’t, Detroit will. I can’t go wrong. Both teams have quality young quarterbacks that I’ll be able to grow with.”
The Lions don’t sound worried either. The Texans, drafting third, are targeting Miami receiver Andre Johnson.
