For a change, the NFL Draft spotlight in Utah will be on Weber State.
Wildcat quarterback Jamie Martin is expected to be the highest pick from an in-state school, in a year when few local players are considered draft prospects.Besides Martin, other draft candidates include offensive tackle Scott Brumfield and safety Derwin Gray of BYU; offensive tackle Mike DeHoog of Utah; and center Warren Bowers of Utah State.
Martin, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, who won the Walter Payton Trophy two seasons ago as Div. I-AA's best player and threw for 3,200 yards and 20 TDs last season, has been projected by the "experts" to go as high as the third round.USA Today ranked Martin fourth among quarterbacks, behind Drew Bledsoe of Washington State, Rick Mirer of Notre Dame and Elvis Grbac of Michigan. Football News rated him seventh, behind that trio plus Gino Torretta of Miami, Shane Matthews of Florida and Mark Brunell of Washington. And Paul Domowitch of Knight-Ridder had Martin third, behind only Bledsoe and Mirer.
Martin admits that he doesn't have any better idea than the experts.
"I wish I did," he said. "Sometimes you hear about a team giving a guy some indication of where they might take him, but I haven't even been give that."
The reason for that, according to Domowitch, is that after Bledsoe and Mirer, the quarterback crop in this draft consists of long-term projects. He predicts that none of the second-tier QBs will go higher than the third round.
Mark Gorscak, an assistant coach at Weber State who acts as liaison with NFL scouts, thinks Martin - who raised his stock with good performances in all-star games - will go higher.
"He has an outside chance of being a late first-rounder," Gorscak said. "We like him to go in the second round, and he could go as low as the third."
Martin has been visited by scouts from all 28 teams, some making as many as four or five visits. He says, naturally, that he doesn't care who drafts him, but "If I could pick my spot, I'd pick somewhere in California or Florida, just so I could play football and golf year-round."
Martin admits that the wait has been "nerve-wracking," but he's figured out how to handle it. He has a noon tee-time today, planning to be on the course when his name comes up. Along with his clubs, though, he'll be carrying a cellular phone.
Brumfield, 6-7, 314, has been mentioned by most pre-draft publications as a probable middle-rounder. He made the Western Athletic Conference first team last season.
Gray was ranked 19th among safeties by USA Today, though some scouts have talked to him about playing cornerback. An All-WAC first-teamer described by one opposing coach as "the most dominant defensive player" in the conference, the scouts are probably leery of his size - 5-93/4, 190. Football News, for instance, rated him a free-agent prospect. Gray said he had inquiries from a couple of Canadian Football League teams but wanted to give the NFL a shot.
DeHoog, 6-4, 285, was ranked 19th by USA Today, right behind Brumfield. Utah's best offensive lineman, he made the All-WAC second team two years in a row.
Bowers, 6-2, 261, was ranked 8th by USA Today but didn't make Football News' top 11 centers. He was an all-Big West performer as a junior and senior.
Several other in-state players are expected to get free-agent looks by NFL teams, including defensive tackle (and punter) Brad Hunter, center Garry Pay, tight end Byron Rex and wide receiver Otis Sterling of BYU; and defensive tackle Joe Jacobs and kicker Sean Jones of Utah State. Utah defensive tackle Dave Chaytors, who is from Calgary, is headed for the CFL.
Other WAC players forecast to be drafted include fullback Lorenzo Neal of Fresno State; tight end David Frisch of Colorado State; offensive tackle Tony Nichols of San Diego State; cornerback Carlton McDonald, Air Force; safety Paul Wallace, Wyoming; punter Ed Bunn, UTEP; and kicker Jason Elam, Hawaii.
From the Big West, draft hopefuls include offensive guard Lonnie Palelei, UNLV; safety Quinton Tezeno, New Mexico State; and cornerback Forey Duckett, Nevada-Reno.
The Big Sky's other draft prospect is another quarterback, John Bonds of Northern Arizona.