The NFL Draft: Full of Question Marks???

Courtesy Paramount Pictures

"Run, Forrest! Run."

If you've ever seen the movie Forrest Gump, you were probably blown away by the things Forrest is able to accomplish in his life despite his below average IQ. From fighting in Vietnam and receiving the Medal of Honor, becoming the greatest ping-pong player in the country, or calling in the Watergate burglary to the police. When it came to Forrest Gump, you never knew what you were going to get out of him. Just ask Lt. Dan about that.

I think that when it comes to not just this year's draft, but every NFL Draft, you never know how things will turn out, much like with Forrest Gump. Who knew that all that running away from bullies as a kid would end up landing him a football scholarship with Alabama.

Believe it or not, the NFL Draft is one week away. The hype surrounding the draft is usually off the charts, but with the NFL in a lockout, the draft has taken a back seat. The owners and players still continue to argue about how to split their $9 billion dollar cake. Sure hope the cake tastes good.

But with the lockout in full bloom, the draft gives fans a chance to stop worrying about how they are going to spend their Sunday's with no football and focus on the NFL Draft. Whether it will be in September, or God knows when, there will be football again and the draft is the beginning of next season.

This year's draft seems to have more questions surrounding it than in year's past. Maybe because no one knows when we will see these guys actually step on the field for the first time, or that there are no real sure fire superstars in this year's class. Guys like Cam Newton bring the superstar status, but no one has more questions surrounding him than Newton.

Teams spend hundreds of hours, studying tape, working out players, going to pro days and interviewing potential prospects, just hoping to find a diamond in the rough. Then there are all these draft gurus like Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. on ESPN and guys on FoxSports, CBS Sports, NFL.Com and in Sports Illustrated that come out with mock drafts every week about where they think certain guys will go. They even rate the guys on their abilities and project who has the most upside and who is most likely to be the next Ryan Leaf or JaMarcus Russell.

But the fact of the matter is, they have no idea who is going where and who is going to be the next star or bust. It's a crap shoot. Now, I love looking at these guys mock drafts and love watching analysts dissect players as much as the next guy, but they don't know more than you or I.

Years ago I could have bet you a million bucks that guys like Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart would have been superstars in the NFL, but yet they are both second and third string quarterbacks who spend more time on the sideline with a clipboard, than on the field.

In preparation for the draft, ESPN has been having a special going called Year of the Quarterback, and on one of the specials they focused on Tom Brady's draft woes in 2000. Tom Brady was the sixth quarterback taken with the 199th overall pick in 2000 after Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger and Spergon Wynn. None of them have come anywhere close to having careers like Brady and none of them have three Super Bowl rings around their fingers like he does.

No one knew Tom Brady would become the player he is today and when it comes to 2011, the same can be said about all the players that will be drafted next week. Teams think they know what to expect from a guy, but you never know. Some teams get lucky and find a Tom Brady (199th overall), Roger Staubach (129th), Terrell Davis (196th) or Bart Starr (199th). Other teams get stuck with Akili Smith (3rd) or Tim Couch (1st).

As for the Bengals, no stranger to poor draft picks, I believe they should take WR A.J. Green from Georgia with the fourth overall pick. I wrote earlier that they should take Cam Newton if he is available, but now I'm not so sure. Seeing Jon Gruden's QB Camp on ESPN with Cam Newton raised some eyebrows and maybe Newton isn't the guy for the Bengals.

Newton is the best athlete in the draft and probably has the most potential, but he's also the most risky. The Bengals have not had much luck with risky players, e.g. Chris Henry and Odell Thruman, so better safe than sorry. The quarterback situation has to be addressed and Ryan Mallet, Andy Dalton, Jake Locker or Cristian Ponder seem like logically choices. But knowing the Bengals, Palmer will be starting under center when they play their first game. Jordan Palmer that is, not Carson.

Forrest and his box of chocolates.

"My momma always said, life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Forrest Gump's mother was right about that. Going into the draft teams are just looking for one of those pieces of chocolate that sends their taste buds into a frenzy, while trying to avoid getting the piece that tastes like toothpaste. The Bengals know what those taste like.

Whoever the Bengals draft and whoever gets drafted number one overall or number 195th, they could be the next great superstar or the next Ryan Leaf, you just never know. So many questions as to which player in this year's draft will be a future Hall of Famer, and that is the greatest question of them all.