Former Missouri Tigers QB Blaine Gabbert has been connected to a lot of different teams as we go through and look at all the various 2011 NFL mock drafts out there. Occasionally, you see the Carolina Panthers at No. 1 overall, and then there's the Buffalo Bills at No. 3 and Arizona Cardinals at No. 5. The Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers are in the top 10, as are the Washington Redskins.
One team we rarely saw him connected to -- Cincinnati Bengals, who pick fourth. It's an interesting place to look at because right now they have QB Carson Palmer, and we're not sure they'll have him for long. Palmer has requested a trade this offseason and threatened to retire if it doesn't. Though the Bengals won't grant him a trade, they're kicking the tires on quarterback options in the draft.
That includes Gabbert.
As someone who wants to see Gabbert do well, going to Cincinnati would be a nightmare. There's some talent in place but Cincinnati is known as the type of place that doesn't do everything they can to help their players succeed (unlike Dallas or Washington, where there are examples of that working and failing). Palmer has a ton of talent and went to the playoffs just twice since the Bengals made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft. Not many folks are happy about going to play for Cincinnati. There's a reason for that. The upside, or the light at the end of the tunnel, doesn't seem to be there.
So, in my mind, Cincinnati wouldn't be a good destination (and, while we're on the subject, Buffalo may not be the best place for success, either).