THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 22, 1996 TAG: 9603220672
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
If the positions they coach are indicative of the player most of them came to see, then Norfolk State's All-American wide receiver James Roe held center stage Thursday afternoon.
With receivers coaches from the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings on hand, Roe went through his paces, along with Norfolk State quarterback Aaron Sparrow and offensive lineman Kenny McDaniel.
Vikings receivers coach Chip Myers said the workout did little to change the perceptions of the scouts on hand, but may have provided a deeper look at the three NFL hopefuls.
``This is when you try to take an extra look at a guy you had a hard time getting a lot of film on,'' Myers said. ``I was impressed with James at the (NFL combine six weeks ago in Indianapolis). I just wanted to substantiate what we learned there.
``The guy catches the ball so well. But I didn't expect to see anything I didn't already know about that.''
Alas, Myers doesn't foresee the Vikings selecting any of the three players in the April 20-21 draft.
Myers said the Vikings already have ``five really good players'' at receiver.
With only seven rounds in the draft, Minnesota may not use a pick this year at that position.
But there are 29 other teams in the NFL and six others took Spartans head coach Darnell Moore up on his invitation to take in a semi-private workout on the Norfolk State campus in the last month.
In two other scheduled workouts, representatives of the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys (both workouts) have gotten a closer look at the trio.
``Roe did particularly well the second time the Cowboys came through,'' Moore said of his Eddie Robinson Trophy winner, adding that Roe vertical leaped 43 inches that day. ``The Cowboys really like him.''
As for Sparrow, Myers said the strong-armed quarterback helped his cause tremendously at the combine, ``and if we hadn't taken Chad May in the fourth round last year we'd be looking seriously at Aaron.
``I don't know where Aaron will go (in the draft), and that's not a cop-out, it's just too confusing to guess,'' Myers said.
``I'd say he won't go in the first or second round. But I wouldn't rule out the third or fourth round. He helped himself a lot with that combine.
``Now, coaches are coming in to gauge if that was his ultimate performance or if he can do that day-to-day.''
Many analysts view the receiving corps in this year's draft as the deepest in 20 years, but where Roe will fall is anybody's guess.
``I'll leave that up to the so-called draft experts,'' Giants assistant Dick Rehbein said. ``I've just got to evaluate the player as to whether he'll help make our team better. We're not particularly deep at wide receiver, whereas a team like Atlanta is blessed.
``At this point, we're just trying to get a better feel for them as people, try to glean a little information that would make our decisions easier.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Giants coaches Dick Rehbein and Steve Verderosa, at left, check out
NSU quarterback Aaron Sparrow.
All-American receiver James Roe shows his stuff one more time
Thursday for NFL scouts visiting the Norfolk State campus.
by CNB