FanHouse Peter Warrick

When talking about front-office futility, Matt Millen sets the pace. Mercifully for Lions fans, he's been relieved of his duties as the team's president and general manager, but his legacy lives on. His infatuation with using high-round draft picks on wide receivers might have been his biggest weakness, although that's certainly up for debate.

Charles Rogers and Mike Williams are on the list of first-round wide receiver busts, but a name that's often overlooked -- and one that we can't blame on Millen -- is Peter Warrick, who the Bengals selected with the fourth-overall pick in 2001.

The Canadian Football League is becoming a who's who of wide receivers who were busts in the NFL draft.

Charles Rogers, the former No. 2 overall pick of the Lions who stands as the worst pick of the Matt Millen era (and that's saying something), is now in the CFL. David Boston, the former No. 8 overall pick of the Cardinals who showed great promise early in his career but was derailed by injuries, off-field problems and steroid suspensions, is now in the CFL.

And now comes word via PFT that Peter Warrick, the former No. 4 overall pick of the Bengals, is signing with the Montreal Alouettes.

Warrick was a great talent at Florida State who showed flashes in the NFL but fell far short of expectations. In the CFL, with its bigger field, I could see him using some of his trademark speed and shiftiness to make a real impact. Unfortunately, Warrick is about to turn 31, and if he still had the speed and shiftiness he was known for in Tallahassee, he wouldn't be headed to Montreal.

Okay, who's the masochist that came up with this? In Friday's Cincinnati Enquirer, there's a poll for the worst Bengals draft pick ever. Amazingly, there are only five players listed: Akili Smith, Ricky Hunley, Ki-Jana Carter, David Klingler and jack Thompson.

Yeah, I'd say this hits all the highlights, but couldn't this list be about 20 deep? Since we're only talking about first-rounders, it limits the field -- especially with all the law-breakers drafted during the Marvin Lewis Era -- but I'd like to nominate running back Chris Perry. He's not in Ki-Jana Carter territory -- yet -- but he's been injured for most of this three-year career. And what about Peter Warrick, the 4th-overall pick in the 2000 draft. Anybody know what he's up to these days?

To be fair, the the Bengals have landed some great player too -- particularly later in the draft: Chad and Rudi Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Madieu Williams. And, of course, the first-round hits: Carson Palmer, Levi Jones, and Takeo Spikes.

Oh, in case you're wondering, Akili Smith is running away at the polls -- he's garnered 54 percent of the vote; David Klingler is second with just 22.9 percent. Smith was that bad.

Well if there was any doubt that Marvin Lewis might hold out Chris Henry this Sunday, I think this news should erase it.

The Bengals worked out Peter Warrick today. While the Bengals are short on receivers, Warrick was probably worked out because of worries about the return game. Tab Perry is out for the year, and Antonio Chatman is dinged up.

I don't have a lot of fond memories of Peter Warrick returning punts for the Bengals (I remember lots of fair catches inside the 10, and a couple of fumbles deep in Bengals territory), but I honestly don't know who the Bengals will turn to if Chatman can't go. Reggie McNeal is a possibility, but he's a rookie and hasn't seen the field yet this season. Not to mention he was a quarterback until a few months ago.

I'm guessing the Bengals wouldn't have worked Warrick out if they weren't serious about signing him, so I'm thinking we'll hear something official in the next day or two.

This is somewhat disappointing to hear, not because Ratliff deserves to be higher on the depth chart than Joseph, but because Ratliff is looking more and more like a wasted second round pick:

Lewis also said cornerback Johnathan Joseph is the defense's "nickel player," the third or inside cornerback on pass downs. Joseph had been thought to be competing with third-year pro Keiwan Ratliff for the nickel job. Of Joseph, Lewis said, "He's a great blitzer, good tackler, understands what we're doing. He can hang with the wide receiver and eliminate him from the game."

Joseph was the team's first-round draft pick: "He was our starting nickel player the minute he walked in the room" Lewis said.

I watched Ratliff play quite a bit for Florida, and I was excited to see the Bengals draft him. He was a very exciting player in college, very quick, good cover guy, athletic returning punts. But it just hasn't translated well to the professional game. His punt returns last year were pretty bad, more often fair catches than not. I'd certainly rather have Ratlif not taking chances than Peter Warrick's fair catches (and occassional fumbles) inside the 10 yard line, but neither are really good solutions. I'm not completely giving up on Ratliff just yet, but he's facing an uphill battle at this point.

More: Bengals pick rookie over Ratliff at cornerback - Columbus Dispatch
Is the Ratliff Experience Over? - Cincy Jungle