Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504250040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVE GOLDBERG ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Long
It started at the top, with expansion Carolina dealing the No.1 pick to Cincinnati just before Saturday's session started. The Bengals used the pick to select Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter, allowing the Panthers to get Carter's teammate, quarterback Kerry Collins, with the fifth choice.
The trend continued for the rest of the day, with Carolina and Jacksonville in the middle of it. There were a record eight trades in the first round, two more than ever before.
San Francisco traded up and got wide receiver J.J. Stokes, the heir apparent to Jerry Rice. Dallas and San Diego traded out of the first round, and a half-dozen teams moved up, down and around.
Those teams included Tampa Bay, which dropped five picks and still was able to come up with defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who dropped from his position in the top three because of reports - which he partially confirmed - about positive drug tests.
Overall, it was a day for offensive players.
For the first time in 31 years, the first five taken were offensive players, headed by Carter.
Eight of the first 10 players chosen were on offense, and running backs went with the 17th, 18th, 19th and 21st picks of the first round, including Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam of Colorado, taken by Chicago. The run on offense came a year after the NFL had modified a number of rules to increase scoring.
It wasn't just a surplus of offensive players that caused the trend.
One of the top defenders, Sapp, plummeted all the way to No.12, where he was taken by Tampa Bay. That came after reports he had tested positive six times for marijuana and once for cocaine.
Sapp confirmed Saturday he had tested positive for marijuana in his freshman year and again this year during the league's scouting combine. But he called the other reports ``ridiculous, a fabrication,'' and said he was ``a little bitter'' and ``caught off-balance by the reports.''
There were three defensive linemen taken ahead of Sapp - Florida's Kevin Carter by St.Louis at No.6, Boston College's Mike Mamula by Philadelphia at No.7 and Florida State's Derrick Alexander by Minnesota at No.11.
Sapp also was passed over at No.8 by his college coach, Dennis Erickson, who is at Seattle and used his pick on wide receiver Joey Galloway of Ohio State.
The New York Jets, at No.9, also passed on Sapp, saying they wanted either Carter or Mamula if they were going to take a defensive player.
Sapp also had an impact on the 10th pick.
Cleveland, which needs to replace Michael Dean Perry, passed over Sapp and traded down with San Francisco for four draft picks.
That let the Niners pick Stokes, the UCLA wide receiver who had the same predraft ``negative'' - a 4.6 second time in the 40-yard dash - as Jerry Rice. The man Stokes might eventually replace has set a slew of NFL receiving records.
Carter was one of three players in the first nine from Penn State's powerful offensive unit. The others were Collins, taken by Carolina with the fifth pick, and tight end Kyle Brady, taken by the New York Jets with the ninth selection.
``It's sweeter than winning the Heisman,'' said Carter, who was runner-up for that trophy, just as Penn State (12-0) was second to Nebraska in the polls for the national championship.
``It just shows how good we were,'' Brady said. ``I'm biased, but I think we were the best ever.''
After Carter, Jacksonville used its first pick on offensive tackle Tony Boselli, who is being compared to likely Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz. Houston followed with Steve McNair of Alcorn State, the highest any black quarterback has been chosen.
Then, Colorado receiver Michael Westbrook went to Washington and Carolina took Collins, a player it coveted. The Panthers felt Carter would get banged up early playing behind the kind of offensive line an expansion team would put on the field. Collins will have time to develop while former Buffalo backup Frank Reich takes a beating with Carolina.
Then came defense. Of the first eight defenders taken, seven were linemen, most of them pass-rushers.
It started with Kevin Carter, who went to the newly transplanted St.Louis Rams, and Mamula, taken by Philadelphia in a trade up with Tampa Bay. Then it was back to offense, with Galloway to Seattle, Brady to the Jets and Stokes to the Niners.
Minnesota took Alexander, the Bucs chose Sapp and New Orleans went for linebacker Mark Fields of Washington State.
Buffalo, rebuilding its offensive line, took Reuben Brown, a Lynchburg, Va., native who played collegiately at Pitt. Indianapolis then selected defensive tackle Ellis Johnson of Florida.
The Jets, with their second pick of the round, took pass-rusher Hugh Douglas of Central (Ohio) State, the New York Giants picked running back Tyrone Wheatley of Michigan, the Los Angeles Raiders selected running back Napoleon Kaufman of Washington and Jacksonville traded up to get yet another running back, James ``Little Man'' Stewart of Tennessee.
Detroit then chose Luther Elliss, a defensive tackle from Utah who was expected to go higher, and Chicago made Salaam the fourth running back to be chosen in a span of five picks.
That was followed by two defensive backs, Tyrone Poole of Fort Valley State to Carolina, which traded up with Green Bay, and Ty Law of Michigan to New England. Then came two offensive tackles, Korey Stringer of Ohio State to Minnesota and Billy Milner of Houston to Miami, before Atlanta went back to the secondary to choose Devin Bush of Florida State.
Pittsburgh, which lost tight end Eric Green to free agency, took another tight end, Mark Bruener of Washington; Tampa Bay then traded with Dallas and took Florida State linebacker Derrick Brooks; Carolina traded with San Diego and chose Texas tackle Blake Brockermeyer; and Cleveland went for Ohio State linebacker Craig Powell.
Then, Kansas City took offensive tackle Trezelle Jenkins of Michigan and Green Bay ended the first round by choosing defensive back Craig Newsome of Arizona State.
1995 NFL Draft - Coverage of rounds four through seven. Noon, ESPN (cable).
by CNB