Monday, April 20, 1998

NFL draft this year is for need

By DAVE GOLDBERG

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Forget that chestnut about NFL teams drafting the "best available athlete." This year, most went for need and were not ashamed to admit it.

This weekend's annual lottery of college players was the deepest in recent years.

So, teams with needs found plenty of players to fill them - assuming that if one fails, another one won't.

For example:

-- New England, with six picks in the first three rounds Saturday, took running backs Robert Edwards of Georgia in the first and Chris Floyd of Michigan in the third in an attempt to replace the departed Curtis Martin. They added Harold Shaw of Southern Mississippi, another running back, in the sixth round.

-- Jacksonville, which lost Natrone Means to free agency, also went for runners. The Jaguars took Fred Taylor of Florida with the ninth pick overall, then used a fourth-round pick Sunday for Iowa's Tavian Banks.

-- Dallas divided its first four picks among its obvious needs - offensive and defensive line; Greg Ellis and Michael Myers on defense and Flozell Adams on offense.

-- And Green Bay went heavy on defense in an attempt to replace players lost in free agency. That was advisable, especially with the retirement Sunday of Reggie White, the NFL's career sacks leader.

But perhaps the most obvious saturation was by Carolina, which ignored its wide receiver needs, bypassing Kevin Dyson and Randy Moss to take four defensive tackles.

The first was Nebraska's Jason Peter, the 14th overall pick. This after the Panthers are about to complete a deal with Washington to bring in end Sean Gilbert, with whom they've already agreed to terms.

"I think it shows we're serious about beefing up our defensive front," said Carolina coach Dom Capers, who also took LSU's Chuck Wiley, and Penn's Mitch Marrow in the third round.

Then he grabbed Viliami Maumau of Colorado in the seventh.

The draft continued Sunday with group of college stars who for one reason or another are not considered sure-shot pros going quickly in the fourth round.

They include Myers, a prospective first-rounder at one time who was suspended by the University of Alabama for the season after having contact with an agent.

Among the others: tight end Alonzo Mayes of Oklahoma State (Chicago); running back Michael Pittman of Fresno State (Arizona); wide receiver Az Hakim of San Diego State (St. Louis); linebacker Kivuusama Mays of North Carolina; and wide receiver-kick returner Tim Dwight of Iowa (Atlanta).

Mays was one of six North Carolina defensive players taken in the first five rounds - including three in the first.

But the picking for need continued.

San Francisco used three of its first five picks on offensive lineman to replace a unit that's been injured and aging for three years.

Green Bay, which lost cornerback Doug Evans, safety Eugene Robinson and defensive end Gabe Wilkins to free agency, chose defensive backs Roosevelt Blackmon of Morris Brown in the fourth round and Scott McGarrahan of New Mexico in the sixth. This came after the Packers used their first two picks on defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday and Jonathan Brown.

"We have taken a giant step forward in putting the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle back together again," said general manager Ron Wolf. "I can actually go home and get up tomorrow morning and not read about how much we need defensive line help."

Then there are the New York Giants, whose first-round pick, safety Shaun Williams of UCLA, was at a position where they're both good and deep. General manager Ernie Accorsi and coach Jim Fassel explained that pick by noting that Williams was by far the best player on the board at the time.

When the second round came up, they looked for a wide receiver - by far their biggest need.

They were torn between two players - Joe Jurevicius of Penn State and Brian Alford of Purdue.

They argued long and loud, then took Jurevicius. When Alford slipped to the third round, the Giants traded up and took him, too.

"We didn't think we could get a receiver of that quality in the fourth round," said Accorsi, who found himself with the best of all possible worlds, a top athlete and two need picks - if they can play.

After five quarterbacks were taken Saturday, none went until the sixth round Sunday, when Miami took John Dutton of Nevada. Green Bay took Boston College's Matt Hasselbeck with a compensatory pick in the sixth round, and Chicago took Colorado State's Moses Moreno in the seventh.

Among those not taken was Ron Powlus, who entered Notre Dame touted as a future No. 1 pick but was a big disappointment.

Guard Aaron Taylor of Nebraska, the Outland Trophy winner as college football's best interior lineman, lasted until the first pick of the seventh round, 190th overall, when he was chosen by the Colts.