THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Good Monday Morning!

Random thoughts about the NFL Draft and your Cincinnati Bengals....

I have no problem with the Bengals taking Andre Smith with the 6th overall pick. I think the mistakes he's made, making illegal contact with an agent while still at Alabama, leaving the Combine early, going through three agents, were mistakes of youth. He has no criminal record. The only downside of signing Smith is that the Bengals will have to play him at left tackle. It's either that, or move Andrew Whitworth from guard to left tackle. That isn't smart. Whitworth could be a Pro Bowl guard for a long time......Rey Maualuga dropped to the second round for a lot of reasons. Inside linebackers, with rare exception, are less desirable than outside linebackers. And Maualuga did seem to be out of position, occassionally at times at Southern Cal. But the biggest reason he dropped? Maualuga scored only a 15 on the NFL's Wonderlick intelligence test. The other Southern Cal linebackers drafted this weekend, Clay Matthews (27) and Brian Cushing (23) did much better.....Getting UC punter Kevin Huber was a steal. It means incumbant Kyle Larson is as good as done. If Huber shows a pulse in training camp, the job is his. You don't draft a punter unless you're intent on keeping him. There are plenty of punters on the street......The Bengals can't help themselves. They drafted another guy with a rap sheet as long as Vine Street. Running back Bernard Scott had so many off the field issues, he didn't play college ball in 2005 and 2006. He's had five separate arrests. Why the Bengals have to go down this road consistently is beyond me. And if you're a fan, you should be livid that they keep doing it. It's arrogance, plain and simple. Character matters, except in Bengal-dom......

The Reds have a major problem in left field. And GM Walt Jocketty had better be working the problem. Neither Chris Dickerson nor Jerry Hairston are hitting. Jocketty made the miscalculation this winter that Dickerson was ready for the majors, full time. He isn't, and may never be. Jocketty bases his calculation on the 31-games that Dickerson spent with the Reds last September. Remember, he hadn't played an inning of major league baseball before that. And at 26, was a career minor leaguer. Hairston is simply a journeyman.

Jocketty's biggest fear has to be the Reds losing a playoff berth this season by a few games and looking back at a number of games that were winnable, simply if he had found a major league caliber left fielder.

The Reds ponied up $10 million for a new scoreboard in left field. Yet they refused to pony up any money for a quality free agent bat. They back off a trade with the White Sox for Jermaine Dye, because of the economy and because Dye came with an $11 million price tag. But they found money for a scoreboard upgrade. You tell me what makes more sense.