Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990 TAG: 9004200103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Scott Blanchard Sportswriter
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That could mean a lot. Or it could mean nothing.
"You hear things, but you hear a lot of different things from a lot of different people," Hokies offensive coordinator Steve Marshall said, referring to the NFL scouts who have examined Tech's prospects in Blacksburg. "Some like 'em; some don't. It's almost impossible to guess where those guys will fall in the draft, or whether they'll get drafted.
"There've been more scouts through here this year than any time since we've been here. What that means, I don't know."
Neither do Brown, Jock Jones, Sean Lucas, Randy Cockrell, Skip Pavlik and Scott Hill. All are thought to have at least an outside chance at being picked in the National Football League's 12-round draft.
Brown should be the most secure, but three other former Hokies have gotten bits of promising news. Pavlik said Tampa Bay's offensive line coach told him this week that the Buccaneers will try to draft him, but if they don't, he is welcome to try out as a free agent. Jones, an outside linebacker, said he was flown to Pittsburgh and Cleveland for physical exams last week, and he said another outside linebacker, Lucas, went with him to Cleveland.
Hill, a defensive tackle, knows only that he has drawn interest from a Canadian Football League team. Cockrell, an inside linebacker, hasn't heard much from scouts; he said he believes he will be a late-round pick at best.
Receiver Myron Richardson and linebacker Bobby Martin, two other Hokies who had good senior years, apparently are long shots to be drafted.
Brown, 5 feet 11 and 185 pounds, was the only former Hokie invited to the annual scouting combine in Indianapolis. He is ranked 16th among cornerbacks by Pro Football Weekly magazine, and the magazine gives him a better-than-average chance of making an NFL roster.
This after a season in which he missed two games with a knee injury, made 17 tackles (17th best on the team) and tied for the team lead in interceptions with three. He was overshadowed by several other Tech defensive players, but he was the Hokies' only participant in the Blue-Gray Game, which showcases college seniors.
"I guess it's a little startling, but not very surprising," Brown said of his draft prospects.
He said his knee didn't bother him at the combine, where players undergo a battery of tests. The results are made available to all 28 NFL teams. Brown said he has gotten some feedback from scouts since the season ended and knows what his biggest question mark is.
"Man-to-man coverage: It's going to make me or break me in the NFL," he said, adding that an Atlanta scout made that plain to him. "He said, `The thing I don't know if you can do is cover the deep ball in the pros.' "
Jones and Lucas, both of whom are being considered as safeties or "nickel" linebackers, have worked out in Blacksburg for Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Miami, Atlanta, Washington, Seattle, the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Raiders.
"They're looking for a back who can cover a running back out of the backfield but who's also big enough to take on the run," said Jones, a 6-2\ , 222-pounder. "Most of the teams who've worked me out have expressed they don't have anybody who can do that real well."
Pavlik, 6-3 and 287, said he has worked out for several of the same scouts who looked at Jones and Lucas (6-1 1/2, 211). His hopes have been boosted by the news from Tampa Bay.
"What I liked about it was that it was an indication that there was some more interest than I thought maybe there was," said Pavlik, who played tackle in his first year at Tech before switching to guard, where he was a first-team Associated Press All-Southern Independent choice.
Cockrell, 6-1 and 235, said he worked out for Detroit and Cincinnati but isn't expecting a flurry of interest.
"I'm not going to beat my head against the wall and pursue something if nobody really wants me," said Cockrell, a forestry and wildlife major. "But, yeah, I'm going to give it a shot."
by CNB