THE PLAYERS : First-Round Consensus of Most-Eligible Athletes

To evaluate football players, Vice President Gil Brandt of the Dallas Cowboys considers three things above all.

“The keys are speed, athletic ability and competitiveness,” he said. “We measure other qualites too, of course, but those are the three that count the most.”

Dick Steinberg, New England’s director of player development, puts two additional qualities at the top level to make it a big five.

“We almost never recommend a high choice who doesn’t have the right size for his position,” Steinberg said. “And we like players who have been three-year starters--if possible, four-year starters--in a major university football program.”

Scouting, in other words, isn’t an exact science. Scouts have different approaches and different systems of player evaluation. So do football writers.

For these reasons, The Times asked 10 men--five NFL scouts and five writers--to contribute to a first-round consensus measuring the athletes eligible for Tuesday’s annual draft.

The considerations:

--This isn’t a typical mock draft. The emphasis is on ranking the top 28 players rather than matching teams and needs.

--Tuesday’s first round might read as it does in this consensus if the teams all ignored their needs to draft the ablest athletes available.

All contributions by executives affiliated with NFL clubs were made in confidence. The five are Norm Pollom, vice president of the Buffalo Bills; George Young, general manager of the New York Giants; Ron Wolf of the Raiders; Brandt, and Steinberg.

One of the contributing writers is Joel Buchsbaum of Pro Football Weekly, a year-round, full-time personnel rater based in Brooklyn. Explaining his first-round selections, he said:

“This is the question I keep in mind: Which prospect would you take if everyone on your team had good but not great ability? One variable is the value of the position. Quarterbacks and running backs make more impact than anyone. Defensive linemen and game-breaking wide receivers make more impact than anyone else.”

NFL DRAFT: THE TOP 28

If pro football’s 28 teams were all drafting the best athletes available Tuesday, the first round would look like the following list, in the consensus judgment of a group of 10 NFL scouts and writers.

Rank Pos. Player College Total Order of Teams Points* in the Draft 1 DL Bruce Smith Virginia Tech 276 Buffalo 2 DL Ray Childress Texas A&M; 266 Houston 3 OL Bill Fralic Pittsburgh 251 Minnesota 4 WR Eddie Brown Miami (Fla.) 250 Atlanta 5 WR Al Toon Wisconsin 219 Indianapolis 6 WR Jerry Rice Miss. Valley St. 203 Detroit 7 OL Lomas Brown Florida 201 Cleveland 8 OL Ken Ruettgers USC 199 Tampa Bay 9 RB Ethan Horton No. Carolina 191 Philadelphia 10 DB Richard Johnson Wisconsin 185 N.Y. Jets 11 LB Chris Doleman Pittsburgh 169 Houston 12 DL Ron Holmes Washington 166 San Diego 13 LB Duane Bickett USC 157 Cincinnati 14 DB Jerry Gray Texas 154 Green Bay 15 DB Derrick Burroughs Memphis St. 136 Kansas City 16 OL Kevin Allen Indiana 97 New England 17 OL Jim Lachey Ohio State 91 Dallas 18 RB George Adams Kentucky 85 St. Louis 19 DL Mike Gann Notre Dame 82 N.Y. Giants 20 DL Emanuel King Alabama 64 Pittsburgh 21 DL Kevin Brooks Michigan 60 Rams 22 DL Garin Veris Stanford 57 Chicago 23 WR Vance Johnson Arizona 46 Raiders 24 C Mark Traynowicz Nebraska 41 New Orleans 25 C Mike Kelley Notre Dame 40 Cincinnati 26 DL Richard Byrd So. Mississippi 36 Denver 27 DB Issiac Holt Alcorn St. 33 Miami 28 WR Jesse Hester Florida St. 32 San Francisco

*TOTAL POINTS are based on an award of 28 points for the first player selected by any panelist, 27 points for the second player on each list, and on down to one point for a player named 28th. The largest possible sum, 280 points, would result if all 10 scouts and writers voted the same player first. SCOUTS contributing: Gil Brandt, vice president, Dallas Cowboys; Norm Pollom, vice president, Buffalo Bills; Dick Steinberg, director of player development, New England Patriots; Ron Wolf, player personnel, Raiders, and George Young, general manager, New York Giants. WRITERS contributing Joel Buchsbaum, Pro Football Weekly; Will McDonough, Boston Globe; Joe Stein, The Sporting News and San Diego Tribune; Bob Wolf, Milwaukee Journal, and Bob Oates, The Times.

HOW PANEL OF WRITERS WOULD MAKE SELECTIONS IN FIRST ROUND JOEL BUCHSBAUM Pro Football Weekly 1. Ethan Horton 2. Eddie Brown 3. Bill Fralic 4. Bruce Smith 5. Ray Childress 6. Al Toon 7. Jerry Rice 8. Ken Ruettgers 9. Duane Bickett 10. Lomas Brown 11. Richard Johnson 12. Ron Holmes 13. Kevin Glover 14. Derrick Burroughs 15. Chris Doleman 16. Kevin Brooks 17. Jesse Hester 18. Vance Johnson 19. Emanuel King 20. Garin Veris 21. Mike Gann 22. Jerry Gray 23. Jim Lachey 24. George Adams 25. Stacy Robinson 26. Richard Byrd 27. Ervin Randle 28. Owen Gill WILL McDONOUGH Boston Globe 1. Bruce Smith 2. Ray Childress 3. Bill Fralic 4. Eddie Brown 5. Jerry Rice 6. Duane Bickett 7. Al Toon 8. Ron Holmes 9. Lomas Brown 10. Ethan Horton 11. Richard Johnson 12. Jim Lachey 13. Derrick Burroughs 14. Ken Ruettgers 15. George Adams 16. Jerry Gray 17. Mark Traynowicz 18. Kevin Allen 19. Mike Gann 20. Chris Doleman 21. Freddie Nunn 22. Kevin Brooks 23. Daren Gilbert 24. Alvin Toles 25. Emanuel King 26. Vance Johnson 27. Lorenzo Hampton 28. Chris Burkett JOE STEIN The Sporting News, San Diego Tribune 1. Bruce Smith 2. Ray Childress 3. Bill Fralic 4. Eddie Brown 5. Jerry Rice 6. Al Toon 7. Ron Holmes 8. Duane Bickett 9. Lomas Brown 10. Chris Doleman 11. Richard Byrd 12. Ken Ruettgers 13. Richard Johnson 14. Ethan Horton 15. George Adams 16. Mike Kelley 17. Vance Johnson 18. Kevin Allen 19. Derrick Burroughs 20. Jerry Gray 21. Darryl Sims 22. Ty Davis 23. Stacy Robinson 24. Ricky Moore 25. Kevin Brooks 26. Jim Lachey 27. Mike Gann 28. Issiac Holt BOB WOLF Milwaukee Journal 1. Bruce Smith 2. Ray Childress 3. Bill Fralic 4. Ken Ruettgers 5. Eddie Brown 6. Richard Johnson 7. Al Toon 8. Jerry Gray 9. Lomas Brown 10. Jerry Rice 11. Chris Doleman 12. Derrick Burroughs 13. Issiac Holt 14. Vance Johnson 15. Ethan Horton 16. Ron Holmes 17. George Adams 18. Kevin Allen 19. Jonathon Hayes 20. Jim Lachey 21. Garin Veris 22. Toran Nixon 23. Willie Hester 24. Ricky Moore 25. Kevin Brooks 26. Mike Gann 27. Owen Gill 28. Ty Davis BOB OATES Los Angeles Times 1. Eddie Brown 2. Bruce Smith 3. Ray Childress 4. Ethan Horton 5. Bill Fralic 6. Al Toon 7. Jerry Rice 8. Duane Bickett 9 Lomas Brown 10. Ken Ruettgers 11. Richard Johnson 12. Derrick Burroughs 13. Chris Doleman 14. Jim Lachey 15. George Adams 16. Jerry Gray 17. Freddie Nunn 18. Ron Holmes 19. Emanuel King 20. Issiac Holt 21. Mike Gann 22. Jesse Hester 23. Mike Kelley 24. Ty Davis 25. Garin Veris 26. Kevin Allen 27. Keli McGregor 28. Vance Johnson