One Giant Step for Bruins’ Williams

In an NFL draft in which defensive backs were very much in demand, UCLA free safety Shaun Williams was snapped up in the first round Saturday, while USC cornerback Brian Kelly found out that there was also a glut of talented players at his position.

Williams, who anchored the Bruin secondary last season and is the latest torchbearer of the UCLA free-safety legacy, was the 24th overall selection by the New York Giants.

He follows former Bruin All-American free safeties Kenny Easley, Don Rogers and Eric Turner as a first-round draft choice.

“That’s why I went to UCLA, to play free safety in college and the NFL like those guys,” said Williams, who finished at UCLA with 217 tackles and 13 interceptions.

Kelly, a four-year starter at USC and who many draft analysts predicted would be chosen late in the first round, was picked midway through the second by Tampa Bay, the 45th player chosen overall.

For the first time since 1992, USC did not have a player chosen in the first round.

UCLA running back Skip Hicks was drafted in the third round by Washington, the 69th overall pick.

Williams and Kelly said they were surprised they didn’t go higher.

Expecting Green Bay or Detroit to choose him with the 19th or 20th picks, Williams again was passed over when New England picked Syracuse safety Tebucky Jones with the 22nd pick.

“To tell you the truth, I was really surprised,” Williams said. “I played with Jones in the Senior Bowl and he’s a great player, but I thought I would be the No. 1 safety chosen.”

Many experts had predicted this to be a bumper-crop season for defensive backs, especially cornerbacks.

There were seven defensive backs drafted among the 30 first-round picks--an NFL draft record--and 15 of the first 61 players chosen.

Scouts told Kelly that they liked his size and that he started four years in a good program but they were worried about his lack of speed.

Kelly said he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41.

Former USC Coach John Robinson visited Kelly, who had 135 tackles and seven interceptions for the Trojans, during the draft, Kelly said. Robinson told him not to worry about what round he was picked in.

“He said, ‘Don’t think that if you’re not picked in the first round, you won’t be successful,’ ” Kelly said. “He told me ‘Starting the first day of practice, it doesn’t matter where you or anyone was picked. It only matters if you can play.’ ”

USC assistant coach Dennis Thurman, who was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round of the 1978 draft, back when the draft had 12 rounds, went on to play eight seasons in the NFL. He said that the “so-called experts” should listen more to college coaches when they evaluate players.

“There are guys who run 4.3 but who think at 4.9 speed,” said Thurman, who coached USC’s defensive backs. “Kelly has the mental makeup for the NFL, he enjoys the challenge. He’s physical, and wants to dominate you physically and can handle the bigger receivers in the NFL.

“We tried to tell the Giants that [former USC player] Jason Sehorn would be a great cornerback, but they played him at safety for a year. Now, he’s the starting cornerback and a star, but they wasted a lot of time.”

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ROUND TWO *--*

No. TEAM PLAYER POS SCHOOL 31. Oakland Leon Bender DT Washington St. 32. Indianapolis Jerome Pathon WR Washington 33. Arizona Corey Chavous DB Vanderbilt 34. Tampa Bay Jacquez Green WR Florida 35. Chicago Tony Parrish DB Washington 36. Arizona Anthony Clement OT SW Louisiana 37. St. Louis Robert Holcombe RB Illinois 38. Dallas Flozell Adams OT Michigan St. 39. Buffalo Sam Cowart LB Florida St. 40. New Orleans Cameron Cleeland TE Washington 41. Pittsburgh Jeremy Staat DT Arizona St. 42. Baltimore Pat Johnson WR Oregon 43. Cincinnati Artrell Hawkins DB Cincinnati 44. Miami Patrick Surtain DB S. Mississippi 45. Tampa Bay Brian Kelly DB USC 46. Tennessee Samari Rolle DB Florida St. 47. Seattle Todd Weiner OT Kansas St. 48. Washington Stephen Alexander TE Oklahoma 49. Miami Kenny Mixon DE LSU 50. Detroit Germane Crowell WR Virginia 51. Minnesota Kailee Wong LB Stanford 52. New England Tony Simmons WR Wisconsin 53. Atlanta Bob Hallen C Kent 54. New England Rod Rutledge TE Alabama 55. New York Giants Joe Jurevicius WR Penn St. 56. New York Jets Dorian Boose DE Washington St. 57. Jacksonville Cordell Taylor DB Hampton 58. San Francisco Jeremy Newberry C California 59. San Diego Mikhael Ricks WR Stephen F. Austin 60. Detroit Charlie Batch QB Eastern Michigan 61. Denver Eric Brown S Mississippi St.

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ROUND THREE

*--*

NO. TEAM PLAYER POS SCHOOL 62. Carolina Chuck Wiley DE LSU 63. Oakland Jon Ritchie RB Stanford 64. Chicago Olin Kreutz C Washington 65. St. Louis Leonard Little LB Tennessee 66. Pittsburgh Chris Conrad OT Fresno St. 67. New York Jets Scott Frost DB Nebraska 68. Buffalo Robert Hicks OT Mississippi St. 69. Washington Skip Hicks RB UCLA 70. New York Giants Brian Alford WR Purdue 71. Indianapolis E.G. Green WR Florida St. 72. Philadelphia Jeremiah Trotter LB Stephen F. Austin 73. Carolina Mitch Marrow DE Penn 74. Atlanta Jammi German WR Miami 75. Cincinnati Steve Foley LB NE Louisiana 76. Seattle Ahman Green RB Nebraska 77. Tennessee Dainon Sydney DB Ala.-Birmingham 78. Cincinnati Mike Goff G Iowa 79. Miami Brad Jackson LB Cincinnati 80. Minnesota Ramos McDonald DB New Mexico 81. New England Chris Floyd RB Michigan 82. Miami Larry Shannon WR East Carolina 83. New England Greg Spires DE Florida St. 84. Tampa Bay Jamie Duncan LB Vanderbilt 85. Philadelphia Allen Rossum DB Notre Dame 86. Jacksonville John Quinn QB Middle Tenn. St. 87. New York Jets Kevin Williams DB Oklahoma St. 88. Kansas City Rashaan Shehee RB Washington 89. San Francisco Chris Ruhman OT Texas A&M; 90. Green Bay Jonathan Brown DE Tennessee 91. Denver Brian Griese QB Michigan 92. Pittsburgh Hines Ward WR Georgia

*--*

HEISMAN WINNERS IN DRAFT

Where Heisman Trophy winners were drafted with their year, school, position, year of draft, NFL team, round-overall number if available. Total rounds of draft in parentheses:

1935--Jay Berwanger, senior, Chicago, HB, 1936, Philadelphia, first-1, (9).

1936--Larry Kelley, senior, Yale, E, 1937, Detroit, ninth, (10).

1937--Clint Frank, senior, Yale, HB, 1938, Detroit, 10th, (10).

1938--Davey O’Brien, senior, Texas Christian, QB, 1939, Philadelphia, first, (20).

1939--Nile Kinnick, senior, Iowa, HB, 1940, Brooklyn, second, (20).

1940--Tom Harmon, senior, Michigan, HB, 1941, Chicago Bears, first (20).

1941--Bruce Smith, senior, Minnesota, HB, 1942, Green Bay, 11th, (20).

1942--Frank Sinkwich, senior, Georgia, HB, 1943, Detroit, first, (30).

1943--Angelo Bertelli, senior, Notre Dame, QB, Boston, first, (30).

1944--Les Horvath, senior, Ohio State, QB, 1943, Cleveland, sixth, (30).

1945--Doc Blanchard, junior, Army, HB, 1946, Pittsburgh-NFL, first, (30); 1947, Brooklyn-AAFC, special selection, (25).

1946--Glenn Davis, senior, Army, HB, 1947, Detroit, first, (30); ; 1947, San Francisco-AAFC, special selection, (25).

1947--John Lujack, senior, Notre Dame, QB, 1946, Chicago-NFL, first-4, (30); 1947, Chicago-AAFC, special selection, (25).

1948--Doak Walker, junior, SMU, HB, 1949, Boston-NFL, first, (25); ; 1949, Cleveland-AAFC, ninth-6, (29).

1949--Leon Hart, senior, Notre Dame, E, 1950, Detroit, bonus selection, (30).

1950--Vic Janowicz, junior, Ohio State, HB, 1952, Washington, seventh, (30).

1951--Dick Kazmaier, senior, Princeton, HB, 1952, Chicago Bears, 15th, (30).

1952--Billy Vessels, senior, Oklahoma, HB, 1953, Baltimore, first, (30).

1953--John Lattner, senior, Notre Dame, HB, 1954, Pittsburgh, first, (30).

1954--Alan Ameche, senior, Wisconsin, FB, 1955, Baltimore, first, (30).

1955--Howard Cassady, senior, Ohio State, HB, 1956, Detroit, first, (30).

1956--Paul Hornung, senior, Notre Dame, QB, 1957, Green Bay, bonus choice, (30).

1957--John David Crow, senior, Texas A&M;, HB, 1958, Chicago Cardinals, first, (30).

1958--Pete Dawkins, senior, Army, HB, 1959, NOT SELECTED, (30).

1959--Billy Cannon, senior, Louisina State, HB, 1960, Rams-NFL, first, (20); 1960, Houston-AFL, territorial.

1960--Joe Bellino, senior, Navy, HB, 1961, Washington-NFL, 17th, (20); 1961, Boston-AFL, 19th, (30).

1961--Ernie Davis, senior, Syracuse, HB, 1962, Washington-NFL, first, (20); 1962, Buffalo-AFL, first, (34).

1962--Terry Baker, senior, Oregon State, QB, 1963, Rams-NFL, first, (20); 1963, San Diego-AFL, 12th, (29).

1963--Roger Staubach, junior, Navy, QB, 1964, Dallas-NFL, 10th, (20); 1964, Kansas City-AFL, 16th, (20).

1964--John Huarte, senior, Notre Dame, QB, 1965, Philadelphia-NFL, sixth, (20); 1965, New York Jets-AFL, second, (20).

1965--Mike Garrett, senior, USC, TB, 1966, Rams-NFL, second, (20); 1966, Kansas City-AFL, 20th, (20).

1966--Steve Spurrier, senior, Florida, QB, 1967, San Francisco, first-3, (17).

1967--Gary Beban, senior, UCLA, QB, 1968, Rams, second-30, (17).

1968--O.J. Simpson, senior, USC, TB, 1969, Buffalo, first-1, (17).

1969--Steve Owens, senior, Oklahoma, HB, 1970, Detroit, first-19, (17).

1970--Jim Plunkett, senior, Stanford, QB, 1971, New England, first-1, (17).

1971--Pat Sullivan, senior, Auburn, QB, 1972, Atlanta, second-40, (17).

1972--Johnny Rodgers, senior, Nebraska, FL, 1973, San Diego, first-25, (17).

1973--John Cappelletti, senior, Penn State, HB, 1974, Rams, first-11, (17).

1974--Archie Griffin, junior, Ohio State, HB, 1975, not eligibile.

1975--Archie Griffin, senior, Ohio State, HB, 1976, Cincinnati, first-24, (17).

1976--Tony Dorsett, senior, Pittsburgh, HB, 1977, Dallas, first-2, (12).

1977--Earl Campbell, senior, Texas, FB, 1978, Houston, first-1, (12).

1978--Billy Sims, junior, Oklahoma, 1980, Detroit, first-1, (12).

1979--Charles White, senior, USC, TB, 1980, Cleveland, first-27, (12).

1980--George Rogers, senior, South Carolina, HB, 1981, New Orleans, first-1, (12).

1981--Marcus Allen, senior, USC, TB, 1982, Oakland, first-10, (12).

1982--Herschel Walker, junior, Georgia, HB, 1983, signed with New Jersey-USFL; 1985, Dallas-NFL, fifth-114, (12).

1983--Mike Rozier, senior, Nebraska, TB, 1984, Pittsburgh-USFL, first-1; 1984 NFL supplemental draft, Houston, first-2.

1984--Doug Flutie, senior, Boston College, QB, 1985, New Jersey-USFL, territorial; 1985, Rams, 11th-285, (12).

1985--Bo Jackson, senior, Auburn, TB, 1986, Tampa Bay, first-1, (12).

1986--Vinny Testaverde, senior, Miami, QB, 1987, Tampa Bay, first-1, (12).

1987--Tim Brown, senior, Notre Dame, WR, 1988, Raiders, first-6, (12).

1988--Barry Sanders, junior, Oklahoma State, RB, 1989, Detroit, first-3, (12).

1989--Andre Ware, junior, Houston, QB, 1990, Detroit, first-7, (12).

1990--Ty Detmer, junior, Brigham Young, QB, 1992, Green Bay, ninth-230, (12).

1991--Desmond Howard, junior, Michigan, WR, 1992, Washington, first-4, (12).

1992--Gino Torretta, senior, Miami, QB, 1993, Minnesota, seventh-192, (8).

1993--Charlie Ward, senior, Florida State, QB, 1994, NOT SELECTED, (7).

1994--Rashaan Salaam, junior, Colorado, RB, 1995, Chicago, first-21, (7).

1995--Eddie George, senior, Ohio State, RB, 1996, Houston, first-14, (7).

1996--Danny Wuerffel, senior, Florida, QB, 1997, New Orleans, fourth-99, (7).

1997--Charles Woodson, junior, Michigan, CB, 1998, Oakland, first-4, (7).