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Hurricanes OT
Bryant McKinnie
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If you could take any college program as your top farm team, which school would you
pick? In other words, which college team has the most NFL-caliber athletes on its roster
and the most players who have a chance to eventually become top players in the NFL? This
was the question we posed to NFL insiders. All comments were made anonymously.
1. Miami (Fla.) — "The Hurricanes have about five or six running backs
who will eventually be in the league, every one of their offensive linemen has a chance to
play, three of their defensive backs could go in the first two rounds, they have one of
the best tight ends in college football, their young wide receivers are supertalented,
(senior) Daryl Jones would be a poor man’s Santana Moss if he could just stay healthy
and their quarterback will play in the league if he gets a little bigger and
stronger."
"They are back to where they were under Jimmy (Johnson) and Dennis (Erickson) in
terms of talent, and they have more good-character players."
2. Florida State — "Most of their really good players are
underclassmen, but they have some kids that really jump out at you as future pros."
3. Texas — "Mack Brown really can recruit, and they have some of the
most awesome talent in the country. Roy Williams could be the game’s next super
receiver if he stays in school two more years and develops. They have another kid (WR B.J.
Johnson) and a tight end (Bo Scaife) who are also going to play. They also could have the
best corner (Quentin Jammer) and offensive line prospect (OT Mike Williams) in the country
and plenty of stud linemen and good-looking backs and linebackers. Then throw in (QB)
Chris Simms, and you have quite a mix."
4. Tennessee — "(DT) John Henderson and their young receivers really
jump out at you, and they have some great-looking freshmen and sophomores running around
in practice."
5. Oklahoma — "Not a great senior class, but great freshman and
sophomore classes. I just love their defensive backs, and they have a freshman defensive
lineman (Tommie Harris) that is going to be special."
6. Georgia — "They have some really special freshmen and sophomores
and a few juniors that really jump out at you. (DE) Charles Grant and Champ Bailey’s
kid brother, (OLB) Boss, are going to be really good players if they play one more year in
college. Tight end Randy McMichael catches the ball really well, and they have a freshman
receiver (Fred Gibson) who is already on the radar screen."
7. Florida — "I love their two starting receivers (Jabar Gaffney and
Reche Caldwell), and (DE) Alex Brown will probably be a ‘one,’ but their
offensive linemen are overrated. Spurrier does a hell of a coaching job, and people
overlook that."
8. Nebraska — "A notch below where they were."
9. South Carolina — "Lou Holtz’s senior class may be as
impressive as any in the country."
10. Michigan — "Not a great senior class, but their younger players
are starting to make their mark."
11. Virginia Tech — "Great speed and lots of impressive kids but not
much in their senior class. I may be too low on them because I really have not studied the
kids yet."
Other schools mentioned: USC, UCLA, Washington, Mississippi State, Colorado, Alabama,
Kansas State, Louisiana State, Fresno State, Louisville, Brigham Young, Auburn, Stanford,
Michigan State, Syracuse and Texas A&M. |
