Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 24, 1994 TAG: 9404240201
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD and DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Stopwatches, nor the pro football scouts holding them, apparently don't faze Tyronne Drakeford.
A few weeks ago, four NFL scouts showed up in Blacksburg to time the Virginia Tech cornerback in the 40-yard dash. Before running, Drakeford walked into Tech's football offices and told a staffer: "I'm going to bust 4.4 [seconds] today."
He did, and has been timed as low as 4.37 seconds in front of scouts from Cincinnati, Cleveland, Green Bay and Atlanta. That's the main reason he's rated among the top four or five cornerbacks available in today's NFL draft (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.), and why he's expected to be chosen no later than the second round.
Drakeford, who started for most of his four seasons at Tech but missed four games in '93 with a broken ankle, should be Tech's highest draft pick since New England took offensive lineman Eugene Chung 13th overall in 1992. Drakeford generally is rated behind Alabama's Antonio Langham, Texas A&M's Aaron Glenn and North Carolina State's Dewayne Washington.
"Personally, I feel I should be in the top three in everybody's mind," said Drakeford, also noted for his strength and coverage ability. "Being in the top five is still an honor for me because of the way my season went last year.
"If the top two corners are gone within the top 13 picks, maybe I could probably slide in at the end of the first round."
Among state players, Drakeford and Virginia safety Keith Lyle are most likely to be drafted today during the first two rounds. They'll wait for a while; last year's first round lasted a record five hours.
Rounds 3-7 are Monday, when the names called are expected to include center Jim Pyne and tight end John Burke of Tech, and tight end Aaron Mundy and offensive linemen Mark Dixon and Jim Reid of Virginia, who joined Lyle as first-team All-ACC members.
Former Hokie linebacker P.J. Preston, a Martinsville native who did not play in 1993 after battling an illness during his senior year, has the speed to be considered as a late-round pick. UVa running back Jerrod Washington also has received mention.
The Hokies haven't had three players drafted since 1992, when Chung headed a list of five draftees. Three Tech defensive backs (Damien Russell, John Granby and Roger Brown) have been drafted since 1990, but none entered the draft as highly rated as Drakeford.
Despite his injury, Drakeford was voted first-team All-Big East by the league's coaches. He still wasn't sure what pro scouts would think. A strong Independence Bowl - he practiced for about a week, then had an end-zone interception - and solid outings in the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game helped him.
"[Scouts] told me they were waiting to see how I would come back from my injury," Drakeford said. "They were pleased. Once they saw the [Independence Bowl] game, they said, `We see you can come back from an injury.' In my mind, it told me I could play injured. I wasn't really 100 percent; I was maybe 85 percent. I felt I had to play."
Then he ran a disappointing 4.57 in the 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
"I just had to redeem myself," he said.
So, beginning after the combine, he said he spent an average of three nights a week at Tech's Rector Field House "working on my [sprint] starts."
"I am kind of pleased. I'm still a little nervous."
Virginia's Lyle might be in the same boat. UVa has had a player chosen in the first or second round in the past three drafts; Lyle, defensive most valuable player of the East-West Shrine game, is UVa's best hope to continue that streak.
"Guys down there were like, `Who is he?' " Lyle said of the Shrine game. "I showed a lot of people some things that I can do."
Lyle's agent, Florida-based John Macik, said several teams are looking at Lyle as a free safety, and that Lyle's style is made for teams such as the New York Giants and San Francisco. Macik said NFL people tell him Lyle should go between the second and fourth rounds.
After hearing draft analysts buffet his draft stock for weeks, Lyle doesn't know what to think.
"It's hard to get a grasp on these experts. I don't know if [analyst Mel] Kiper ever played," Lyle said. "It's good to see, for one, that the opportunity of being drafted is good, but I try not to focus on what they see."
Mundy, 6 feet 5 and 250 pounds, has size and speed but was rated by Kiper behind several other tight ends, including Tech's John Burke. Mundy averaged 2.1 receptions per game at UVa; Burke, an excellent blocker, averaged almost 2.1 games per reception.
Mundy, from Hampton, missed UVa's last three regular season games with a knee injury but returned for the Carquest Bowl.
"Hopefully, I'll be drafted," he said.
Burke is a little more secure, although he admits he hurt himself with a 5.11 time in the 40 at the combine. Since then, he said, he has run as low as 4.9 in front of scouts at Tech.
"Perhaps the majority of the teams I have spoken with are more run-oriented," said Burke, who walked on to Tech's football team and became a starter. "I've been told by one particular team, `You're not going to go through the whole thing without getting picked.' "
Dixon and Pyne, unanimous All-Americas, figure to go in the third round at the earliest. Reid, an All-ACC pick, attended the combine but was preoccupied because his brother Pete, a former William and Mary lineman, suffered head injuries in a car accident.
"[He] was in a coma the whole time," Reid said. "For the 10 days up to the combine I was sitting in a waiting room stuffing my face and worrying to death. He's home now."
Reid, who has chronic knee problems, said teams have been looking at him as a tackle or guard, and said his versatility "can't be a negative. I'll be disappointed if I don't get drafted."
"Every college football player has a goal of playing in the NFL. When you get this close, all of a sudden everybody's getting nervous and what not. This is what you've worked for for a while and you're going to know pretty soon if you're going to have a chance at it."
by CNB