I haven't seen a lot of discussion on taking a first round QB on this blog.  There's a few Cam Newton fans, and a few supporters of taking a Kaepernick or a Stanzi in the later rounds, but we may find ourselves in as uncertain a QB scenario as any team in this league. 

The Palmer Chronicles have been beaten to death, so I'm not really going to rehash.  My personal opinion is that he won't (and shouldn't) be back.  That is not an indictment of his ability to play, but rather of his ability to lead.  Leaders are empowered by the willingness of their followers (for lack of a better term) to be led by them.  Can somebody take as big a credibility hit, going so far as to make public their desire to bail out, and still be able to grab control of the locker room and lead the team to where they need to be?  I don't think so.  The situation the Bengals are in is shit, and as a member of the military, I know a thing or two about being led through shit.  I wouldn't follow Carson anywhere.

That said, the debate I'm trying to open is not whether we should take a QB in the first round.  Hypothetical scenario here - pretend that as a lowly fan you have no control over what the team does and are left to watch from afar as they make decisions that may sometimes be questionable.  It's a stretch, I know.  Pretend that the Bengals ARE going to take a QB in the first round.  This is a possibility that I don't think we can discount, and at pick 4 we might have a choice of any QB in the draft.  Who would you want that quarterback to be?

Anyone else think that this guy could be developed into a legitimate starter for the Bengals?  Moving on from Palmer may not mean having to draft a QB in the first or second round.  This guy has most of the attributes people here want from our next QB - he's smart and is a student of the game, he has a strong arm, and he's very mobile.  He has the build of a good pocket passer, he has good mechanics, and he outran Tebow at the combine.  He's a winner.

Now, I understand he's a spread offense quarterback.  I'm not saying we throw him in their next year.  I'm saying with a good offensive minded head coach (Hue Jackson?) and a new OC who's a QB guy (McDaniels, anyone?) he could be ready to go by 2012.  With as many holes as we've got on this team, do we need to waste a high draft pick when we might have the future of our franchise on the roster already? 

Q's2B: 2010 NFL Draft Former Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour (via CMUSports)

In order to combat offseason boredom as well as my own paranoid delusions that I'm the only flesh-and-blood person posting on a board full of goladymall.com spambots, I thought it might be a good idea to try to get to know my fellow Bengals weblog enthusiasts.

Who are you?  Where are you from?  From what masochistic corner of your mind does your Bengals fandom stem?  Who is your daddy, and what does he do?

As for myself, I'm the son of a Cincinnati cop and I split time growing up between the Nati and Michigan's beautiful upper peninsula.  After waking and baking through a semester at Northern Michigan University, I said eff this and joined the military.  I've been stationed in the UK for the last few years, living near London.  I love it...I've enjoyed my job and seen the world, but it's about time to move on.  I have under a year left on contract and I'll be getting in on that sweet GI Bill action and applying to the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State, and Miami of Ohio to hopefully major in international studies.  My very tentative plan is to return to the military as an officer.  Any alums of either of these establishments have any words of wisdom to impart?

Don't leave me hanging, guys.  Introduce yourselves.  Let's hear it.

I really like this guy, and if he's there at 21 I think the Bengals absolutely have to take him.  If he's willing to go this far just to clean up his "image problem", the bulk of which is complete crap IMO anyway, imagine the kind of dedication he'll bring to whatever team decides to give him a shot. 

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What do you guys think?  Although I think we have greater positions of need, he'll almost certainly be the best player available if he's around at #21.  With this guy and Andre Smith developing together, we could have a solid foundation for our line for years to come.

Apparently he's projected as a mid to late first round pick, but does anybody really think he'll be available at 21?  I can definitely see Pitt snatching him up if he's around. 

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