1995 USFL COLLEGIATE DRAFT RECAP

Sporting News, February 3, 1994

A lot to report from yesterday’s conclusion of the USFL Collegiate Draft. It was a day full of surprises and more trades than we have seen in a long time. Hopes run high as teams selected from the collegiate elite, 8 rounds of picks for the 24 league franchises. Now comes the real challenge, signing as many of these picks as possible before training camp opens in 2 weeks. With the NFL Draft soon approaching, there will be some who wait out the process, dipping their toes into the USFL waters, but not taking the dive until they see what the fall league has to offer. Others will jump at USFL contracts which, at least in the first few rounds, often tend to outpace those of the senior league as the USFL has always tried to build through the draft and sign top college players, since the very first season when Heisman Winner Herschel Walker became the first big signee of the fledgling league. Will the league sign another Heisman Winner in Colorado HB Rashaan Salaam? What about top QB’s like Steve McNair, Kerry Collins, or Michigan’s Todd Collins? And what of other award winners like Miami DT Warren Sapp, or Outland Trophy Winner Zach Weigert of NCAA Champion Nebraska? The names have been selected, now lets see who signs. Here is our team by team analysis:

ARIZONA: The top needs for Arizona were at WR, CB, T, and possibly a backup QB behind Bosco. They went for their receiver right away, drafting UCLA’s J.J. Stokes in the first round. They drafted 2 players each at CB and T, including ASU’s Zach Keysar in the 3rd. They waited on a QB pick, opting in the 4th round to go with Craig Whelihan of Pacific.

ATLANTA: As an expansion club, the Fire had a lot of holes to fill, but they also traded away several picks to get Mraz and Mo Lewis on defense. They kept their first pick, however, and with it did what everyone expected, selecting Georgia QB Eric Zeier. Zeier, considered a mid-level pick for the NFL may just sign to stay in Georgia with the Fire. An interesting pick on defense was CB Tyrone Poole of little-known Fort Valley State, a player who had dominated against smaller school competition and now looks to make the leap to pro ball.

BALTIMORE: The Blitz retained all 7 of their picks, avoiding the trades that so many others jumped at. In the early rounds they tried to shore up their offense, going Tackle, Tight End, and Wideout with their first 3 picks: Ohio State’s big LT Korey Stringer, TE Kyle Brady of Penn State, and Justin Armour of Stanford. In the late rounds they looked to defense but took two more fliers on receivers, using a 7th round pick on Winston-Salem State’s Oronde Gadsden, and then using the 8th round pick to take a low risk shot at Viriginia’s Tyrone Davis.

BIRMINGHAM: The Stallions needed to replenish depth behind their starters, notably at QB and HB after the departures of Cliff Stoudt (ATL) and Brent Fullwood (NFL), but they did not appear to be in a hurry on either, waiting until the 3rd round to take a QB, local kid Jay Barker of Alabama, and a RB (in a pick from their trade with Washington, snagging Dino Philyaw of Oregon. Birmingham had made two trades earlier in the day to acquire talent at the Guard position, another decimated by the expansion draft. They traded WR Danny Knight to Orlando for G Ed King and a pick, and then sent C Chris Thome to Washington for draft picks, one of which would turn into Safetu Kwamie Lassiter.

CHICAGO: The Machine were another club that opted to hold onto their picks. They wanted to find help at tackle and DE, and the addressed the latter need right away, selecting Boston College’s big DE Mike Mamula with their first pick. They went tackle in rounds 2 and 4, selecting Melvin Hayes of Miss State in the 2nd and Tony Berti of Colorado in the 4th. They also used a late pick on a bit of a flyer, taking HB Kijana Carter, who has already indicated a desire to look at the NFL and not sign right away with the USFL.

DENVER: Denver must know something, because they pounced on Heisman Winner and Colorado star Rashaan Salaam as soon as their pick came up in the first round. Expect that a deal is already verbally agreed upon, because no sooner was the pick in than they worked on trading Natrone Means. They would send Means to Jacksonville in return for a second round pick, giving them back to back picks in the second round, where they selected C Cory Raymer and LB Chris Cowart. Denver was aggressive, and now will look very different on offense with Salaam and Mark Brunell taking on the challenge.

HOUSTON: The Gamblers also made a deal on draft day, sending guard Mike Wythcombe to Philadelphia for the Stars’s second round pick. Houston went defense in the first round, selecting Utah DT Luther Ellis, but used their 2 second round picks to make Jim Kelly happy, selecting big TE Ken Dilger first and following that with Va Tech’s elusive Antonio Freeman. The rest of the draft included 3 offensive linemen taken, which should also put a smile on Kelly’s face.

JACKSONVILLE: One of the most active teams, both before the draft, acquiring Browning Nagle from Philly and trading away both Mo Lewis and Vince Workman, but also during the draft, obtaining Natrone Means from Denver. As far as their picks go, the Bulls doubled down on the QB position, picking Alcorn State’s Steve McNair in the first round and Tennessee’s Jerry Colquitt in the 5th.

LOS ANGELES: The pre-draft deal for Marcus Allen left LA with only 5 rookie picks this year. Their first pick, in the second round, was for LB Donta Jones of Nebraska, and they may have pulled a coup, selecting Black Brockmeyer, the big tackle from Texas in the 5th round.

MEMPHIS: The Showboats did not like the look of the TE’s available in the draft, so they made a draft day trade with Portland to get one they trusted. Adrian Cooper will be coming to Memphis and in return the Showboats send LB Mike Junkin to the defensively-challenged Thunder. In the draft, Memphis still took a TE in Christian Fauria of Colorado. They also looked to help Reggie White out on the D-line, selecting both UCF DE Greg Jefferson and Ole Miss DT Norman Hand.

MICHIGAN: We all expected Skip Holtz to go after Wolverine HB Tyrone Wheatley, and that is exactly what the Panthers did in the first round. Wheatley seems open to playing in the USFL, and in Michigan he will have a clear path to the starting job. Michigan also selected three tackles with their 9 picks, and got a solid backer in Colorado’s Ted Johnson.

NEW JERSEY: With only 1 QB on the roster after the retirement of Oliver Luck and the loss of Dave Brown in the expansion draft, New Jersey had to take a shot on a rookie QB. They opted to wait until the 2nd round, selecting guard Jesse James of Mississippi State with their first pick. In the second they selected “prototype” QB Rob Johnson of USC, a very different kind of QB from their starter, Doug Flutie. The Generals also used 3 picks on LB’s and even gave a local kid some love, selecting Hofstra wideout Wayne Chrebet with their final pick in the 8th round.

NEW ORLEANS: Not surprising with Mike Ditka at the helm, the Breakers used 5 of their 7 picks on defense, including 3 DE’s and 1st round pick Devin Bush, the safety out of FSU. Their lone “hands” player, is a bit of a flyer, HB Terrell Davis out of Georgia, who was not even the starting back for most of his career in Athens, so a bit of a surprise in the 5th round.

OAKLAND: Oakland had few glaring needs coming into the draft, so they could play the Best Player Available game. They went for a longshot in FSU LB Derrick Brooks in the first round, then settled into a more familiar scheme in the second, selecting Notre Dame CB Bobby Taylor. Still unsure about the kicker position, the Invaders selected a local foot, San Jose State’s Joe Nedney and will give him a shot in camp.

OHIO: Already signing local stars like WVU’s Jeff Hostetler and Buckeye Vince Workman to help boost their first season attendance, Ohio doubled down on that strategy, and now hope they can sign their first pick, Ohio State wideout Joey Galloway. Staying in Columbus may be tempting for the Buckeye star, but so might the NFL. Ohio also selected Buckeye LB Craig Powell, keeping to the home town team theme.

ORLANDO: With Collier and Jefferson gone, and coming off a horrible season, it is definitely retooling time for Coach O’Leary. He got Scott Mitchell in trade to potentially start at QB, and in the draft he added speed in FSU wideout Tamarick Vanover. The speedy Vanover could see action in the slot and will almost certainly be a special teams returner. Orlando got another receiver in veteran Danny Knight through trade with Birmingham.

PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia knew they needed to rebuild their interior line after losing both starters this offseason. They used the trade and the draft to do just that, acquiring guards Chris Snyder and Mike Wychcombe in trades and then drafting big Rueben Brown from Pitt in the first round. Brown may be tempted to wait for the NFL draft, but Philly seems ready to lay out a tempting offer to sign the big man, and starting your career with the defending league champ is enticing on its own. Keep an eye out on mid-round selection, LB Damien Covington as well. He looked really good in pre-draft combines.

PITTSBURGH: The Maulers made some interesting choices in the draft. After trading away Jeff Hostetler, they chose not to draft a QB. After losing promising young receivers like Mike Pritchard and Robert Claiborne, they waited until round 5 to pick their only wideout. And despite having a perennial All-USFL tight end in Mike Shaw, they used both their 3rd round picks to add two at the position, Texas’s Lovell Pinkney and Louisville’s Jamie Asher. Not sure what the plan is for Pittsburgh, but expect them to make a couple of late signings, especially at QB, where they only have untested Pat O’Hara behind Risher.

PORTLAND: We expected Coach Tobin to want to immediately address that defense, and he did. First they traded for LB Mike Junkin from Memphis. Then they use their first 3 draft picks on the defensive side, going after some big names in Washington State LB Mark Fields, the raw Hugh Douglass from Central State, and UNC standout corner Jimmy Hitchcock. They would also add later picks for another corner and a safety. Their only offensive selections were on the O-line, though they did make a trade with New Jersey to bring Amp Lee in as a backup to Robert Drummond.

SEATTLE: The expansion Dragons had their QB when the draft started, and they had found some decent talent in NFL/CFL/USFL free agents in receivers Bobby Olive and Orlando McKay, QB’s Doug Nussmeier and David Klingler, and LB’s Jim Schwantz, Joe Johnson, and Tommy Thigpen. They filled in most other starting positions in the Expansion Draft, but must not have felt all that comfortable with the idea of Roosevelt Potts at HB, because they took the flier and drafted Napolean McCallum in the first round. McCallum is expected to be a tough sign, but perhaps being able to be stationed by the Navy in Seattle could help. They followed that pick by adding WSU Cougar Don Sasa at DT, LB Stephen Boyd of BC, WSU Corner Torey Hunter, and finally selecting a FB, one of only 2 taken in the draft, in FSU’s Zack Crockett.

ST. LOUIS: A team in need of a bow to stern retooling, St. Louis was surprisingly quiet on the trading block, going into the draft with all 8 picks intact. With confidence in David Archer eroded, it is no surprise that the Knights went after a top QB option. What is surprising is that they went with Todd Collins of Michigan instead of the more highly-regarded Kerry Collins of Penn State. Collins, taken with the first pick in the draft, was all but signed on draft day, and maybe that is the key for St. Louis. The rest of their draft was somewhat nondescript, adding 2 safeties, DE Dameion Jeffries from Alabama, and looking for a kicker late, with the selection of USC’s Cole Ford.

TAMPA BAY: The Bandits, who lost both backups to Errict Rhett in the offseason, took some shots at HB in the draft, picking both Wisconsin speedster Terrell Fletcher and Miami grinder James Stewart. They also tried to bolster their run defense, selecting 3 DT’s, including Miami Hurricane Pat Riley and the big name, Warren Sapp. Sapp was a late round pick, as he is just not expected to sign pre-NFL selection, so don’t expect him to be a Bandit, but Riley might be a possibility.

TEXAS: The Outlaws did what we expected they would do, found a backup to Reggie Cobb first, and then went BPA the rest of the way. A&M’s Rodney Thomas will almost certainly stay in Texas with the Outlaws, platooning with Cobb. After that, the best selection may have been Colorado DT Darius Holland, who could be a Day 1 starter for Texas. We also like the selection of CB Kenny Gales of Wisconsin.

WASHINGTON: With both Don Majkowski and backup Mike Hohensee both qualifying for AARP membership, we figured the Federals would go QB early, but we did not see Kordell Stewart as that pick. Stewart, the athletic but somewhat raw Colorado Buffalo QB, has a ton of ability, and being selected in the 1st round may be incentive for him to sign with Washington, but he is a very big stylistic departure for Coach Rutigliano. Likely to sit behind Majkowski as long as the Majik Man can stay healthy, he could find himself starting this year at some point because Maj has simply not been able to play a full 16 in recent years. That too may be incentive to sign with the Feds.

So, a few big holes still to fill, and our expansion franchises will need to add depth to the roster as well, as we have a few weeks of free agency before training camp opens. The rosters are not set in stone at this time, but things are beginning to shape up. Now, sign these picks and get to work as the 1995 season will be here sooner than you think.