Flashes of NFL Ability Scouts' Evaluations an Inexact Science

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LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Al Roberts wants to see a flash.

The Cincinnati Bengals' special teams coach, when he's scouting college players as he was this week during practice for today's Rotary Gridiron Classic college all-star game, is looking for a glimpse of something that convinces him an athlete may be able to play in the NFL. He calls it a flash, and while he can't completely define it, he said he knows it when he sees it.

"Some kind of movement, some kind of understanding," Roberts said. "I look for flashes, flashes of some kind of athletic ability. The intangible thing of smartness and understanding, you try to pick that up. But I just look for flashes -- height, weight, speed, something that says that he can do some things."

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