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| | Friday, August 25 Top prospects hit ESPN.com | |||||||||||||||||
| ESPN.com The 2000 NFL draft is more than five weeks away, but you won't have to wait that long to get an up-close examination of the top prospects. On Wednesday, five NFL hopefuls stopped by ESPN.com in Bristol, Conn., to chat live with our users. Here's a look at each of the five prospects:
Position: Outside linebacker College: Penn State Vitals: 6-foot-3, 233 pounds; born June 30, 1978. Credentials: Perhaps the top defensive playmaker available in the draft, Arrington is the latest blue-chipper to come out of "Linebacker U." He was named an All-American twice during his three-year career at Penn State and won both the Butkus and Bednarik awards in 1999. The high-energy linebacker made 72 tackles (42 solo) with 20 tackles for loss, nine sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, two blocked kicks and six pass break-ups during his junior season. He's almost certain to be selected in the first three picks of the draft, going either to Cleveland or Washington.
 | In The Crosshairs with Arrington
Position: Defensive end College: Penn State Vitals: 6-foot-5, 270 pounds; born Feb. 14, 1978. Credentials: A consensus first team All-American and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year last season, Brown set Penn State records for career sacks with 33 and tackles for loss with 70. An excellent run-stuffer and fierce pass rusher, the senior defensive end also established a school record with 29 tackles for loss last season, vaulting up the draft boards of most experts. Brown, who is a cousin of Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton, is expected to be chosen in the top five of the draft.
| In The
Crosshairs | Prospect Profile
Position: Running back College: Virginia Vitals: 5-10, 205 pounds; born August 19, 1978. Credentials: Perhaps the top running back available, Jones ranks as Virginia's all-time leading rusher with 3,998 yards. As a senior in 1999, he finished third in the nation in both rushing and all-purpose yards and became the ACC's first consensus All-America running back since N.C. State's Ted Brown in 1978. Jones owns at least eight ACC and 15 Virginia records, and he rushed for a school-record 1,798 yards last year. Jones ran the 40 in 4.43 seconds and bench-pressed 225 pounds 24 times in a private workout for scouts Monday.
| In The
Crosshairs with Jones
Position: Quarterback College: Georgia Tech Vitals: 5-10, 189 pounds; born March 13, 1977. Credentials: Despite his lack of size, the versatile Hamilton put up huge numbers during his four years at Georgia Tech. He finished his college career ranked No. 1 on the ACC's all-time total offense list with 10,640 yards and fourth on the league's career passing chart with 8,882. A finalist for the 1999 Heisman Trophy, Hamilton also finished as the league's all-time leader in touchdown passes with 65. Last season, Hamilton also set the ACC's single season mark with 3,794 yards of total offense.
Position: Quarterback College: Marshall Vitals: 6-4, 220 pounds; born June 26, 1976. Credentials: Pennington passed for 3,799 yards and led the nation with 37 touchdown passes as he led the Thundering Herd to a perfect 13-0 season in 1999. The senior quaterback also led Marshall to a third consecutive Mid-American Conference championship and the school's highest national ranking since joining the Division 1-A ranks three years ago (11th). Pennington's 171.4 quarterback rating ranked third in the nation and his 325.33 yards of offense per game were fifth nationally.
| ALSO SEE Prospect Forum: The combine AUDIO/VIDEO   LaVar Arrington forces the fumble and scores a 2-yard TD.avi: 1054 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Courtney Brown extends for the interception.avi: 99 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Joe Hamilton finds Kelly Campbell in the back of the end zone. (Courtesy: ABC)avi: 737 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Chad Pennington has thrown for more than 10,000 career yards.RealVideo: 28.8 | |||||||||||||||||
