ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604220095
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA TECH'S J.C. Price and Bryan Still and UVa's Bobby Neely and Patrick Jeffers hope the NFL gives them a call during this weekend's draft.
On the eve of this weekend's 1996 NFL Draft, Virginia Tech's J.C. Price offered a unique spin on how it feels to be one of the handful of state players waiting in the NFL's meat-market line.
``I look at it this way,'' the Hokies' defensive tackle said Friday. ``It's like this: I'm standing there for sale; now, it all comes down to whoever buys me.
``In this position, all you are is a product ... a product that somebody is getting ready to purchase.''
Of the four Tech and UVa players expected to be taken in the seven-round, 254-player draft, Hokies flanker Bryan Still figures to have the shortest shelf life.
Still, whose stock has climbed dramatically since he recorded a dazzling 4.36-second 40-yard time at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, is the area player most likely to be taken in today's first three rounds.
Price and UVa's top two draft candidates - tight end Bobby Neely and receiver Patrick Jeffers - likely won't hear their names called until Sunday's Rounds 4-7.
Nevertheless, rest assured that all four won't be straying too far from the television and phone today.
``It's going to be a big day,'' said Still, who will watch today from his grandmother's house in Martinsville along ``with his mother, sister, aunt and everybody else.''
``I'm just ready for it to be all over,'' Still said. ``I'm so anxious. This is kind of like waiting for a big game like the Sugar Bowl or playing Virginia or something.''
Jeffers, a likely late-round pick, noted: ``There's nothing I'd rather be doing. I'm glad I'm not out looking for a job.''
Despite his size - 5 feet 11, 175 pounds - Still has turned NFL scouts' heads with his speed. While others have had him lower, noted draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said this week he'd be ``stunned'' if Still didn't go by the end of the second round.
``I have a lot to show people,'' Still said. ``I may not be a Keyshawn Johnson [the draft's top receiver from Southern Cal and possible No.1 pick overall] who is 6-3 and 210, but he's not going to be able to run as fast [or] be able to do some of the things I can do because I'm smaller, quicker and faster.''
Neely, a 6-4, 254-pound tight end who played only five games last season due to ankle and shoulder injuries, figures to be the next area name to go. Neely's weight work at the Indianapolis combine helped rid him of his ``injury-prone'' tag.
``I don't think I'm a real popular guy with Kiper because of my injuries,'' Neely said, ``but a lot of the stuff I did at the combine took that notion out of a lot of people's heads.
``Everybody thought I wasn't going to lift because I had injured my shoulder. When I did 27 reps [at 225 pounds, second-best among tight ends], it just blew everybody away. They thought at most I'd do 12 or 15.''
Neely, who plans on shooting pool and watching the draft today at his parents' Atlanta home, said he'd be disappointed if he didn't go by the end of Round 4.
``The talk I'm hearing now is middle rounds - at best, third round; at worst, late fourth. I have 15 teams keenly interested.''
Then again, as Neely noted, who knows?
``One day a team can love you,'' he said. ``The next day they can hate you. The next day after that they can see something on film and love you again.''
Price, a 6-3, 285-pound tackle, wasn't loved by anybody in the NFL until his banner senior season. Price helped key Tech's nationally ranked defense by making 23 tackles for loss, the fourth-highest total among Division I-A players.
``A year ago at this time,'' Price said, ``I didn't think I'd be involved in the draft process.''
Most projections have Price going anywhere from late Round 3 to Round 6. Therefore, Price, and his family and friends, will have enough food on hand to cover a possible two-day session in front of the TV at the tackle's Blacksburg apartment.
``You can't call it a party,'' Price said, ``cause that's how you jinx yourself. Everybody is coming over to eat some food and drink some sodas.
``I'm kind of one of those in-between guys [in the draft]. I'm just going to watch it all and hope for the best.''
Then Price plans on giving his best to his new prospective employer.
``I just know whoever gets me is going to get somebody who goes 100 miles per hour,'' Price said. ``I'm not the strongest guy or the biggest guy, but I've got other things I can utilize.
``I've got pretty good speed. I can easily see myself not starting on the line for a year or two, but being able to run down the field on special teams on a regular basis.''
Kiper on Price: ``He's a real overachiever. He has the talent to play in this league.''
Jeffers, who finished fourth in UVa history in receptions (108) and receiving yards (1,785), is being projected by most experts as a late-round selection. He doesn't have Still's speed, but at 6-4, 220, he blends in well with the NFL's recent trend of bigger, taller wideouts.
``I think [Still] was the first person to run a 4.3 electronically timed 40 [at the combine],'' Jeffers said. ``He helped himself. That kind of speed is deadly.
``It'd be nice to have that kind of speed but at the same time he doesn't weigh 220 pounds, either.''
Jeffers was timed at 4.63 at the combine.
``That's better than most expected,'' he said. ``Most expected 4.7. They basically told me `Everybody thought you were a possession receiver but that's not a possession receiver's time.' It doesn't make me a speed demon, though.''
Besides Still and Price, two other Hokies are longshots to be taking an NFL phone call this weekend. Split end Jermaine Holmes has gotten some serious looks, while defensive tackle Jim Baron also has garnered some attention.
UVa's other possible draftees include quarterback Mike Groh and Chris Harrison, a 6-4, 285-pound offensive tackle.
Groh and Harrison, like Price, Still, Neely and Jefferson, attended the combine.
Elsewhere around the state, Norfolk State wide receiver James Roe has attracted attention. Liberty quarterback Antwan Chiles also has worked out for NFL scouts.
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