POSTED 7:36 a.m. EST; LAST UPDATED 8:43 a.m. EST, January 29, 2007
BENGALS NEED TO BEEF UP SCOUTING STAFF
In response to the item we posted on Sunday night addressing the tough talk from Bengals president Mike Brown regarding his displeasure with a roster including nine players who have been arrested since December 2005, a former NFL front-office employee has reminded us of one of the potential causes for the problem with which the team is now struggling.
The Bengals don't employ enough scouts.
"Most teams have almost 10 college scouts and a scouting assistant or 2," said the source. "It's amazing that they have gone this far today and do things backwards. They have no one else to blame but their own front office."
So how do they get ready for the draft? The talk is that the assistant coaches get pressed into service after the season ends. But that's like showing up 90 minutes late for a marathon, since every other team has been spending the entire football season dispatching its scouts to points all over the country, where they attend college practices and games.
Why don't the Bengals have a bigger scouting staff? Because they're cheap.
And this brings us back to the whole revenue issue. Sure, the Bengals are near the bottom of the NFL in gross revenue. But they continue to be one of the most profitable teams, because they spend as little of their money as possible.
So while we've been blaming Marvin Lewis for the mess in the Queen City, it very well could be that much of the blame falls to Brown.
With that said, the Bengals are clearly doing enough to identify the talented players. The flaw apparently lies in the nuances and details, which prompted many of the guys whom they have selected over the past couple of years to slide until the Bengals realized that they were in position to snag what they thought was a steal.
