Bengals coach Marvin Lewis acknowledged today that there’s “a risk” associated with selecting fifth-round draft pick Jason Shirley of Fresno State, who was off most teams’ draft boards because of his long history of off-field trouble.

“It’s a little bit of a risk, yes,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of guys who have gone over the last two days with more substantial things hanging over their heads.”

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Shirley acknowledged today that he has a trial pending on two counts of driving under the influence and one count of hit-and-run.

“I have a court date May 21. And right now, everything’s going kind of smooth. I can’t really get into the details about it, as advised to me by my lawyer, but it’s going smooth,” Shirley said. “It’s looking real good, and hopefully I can get that expunged off my record.”

The Bengals are unique among NFL teams because of their 10 player arrests over 14 months in 2006 and 2007 — they know they’re not going to get the benefit of the doubt when they collect players of questionable character. So given that, why draft Shirley? Was he really so much better than the next-best player on the Bengals’ board that drafting him was worth the headaches associated with his off-field problems? When will the Bengals learn not to draft guys who show up to team headquarters and answer questions with “hopefully I can get that expunged off my record”?