How the Pro Scouts Vote

College football, like wine, has its vintage years. And what kind of a year was 1967? Well, to the fans it was certainly exciting. To sportswriters and pollsters it was bewildering--as one after another of the favorites went down to defeat, making a mess of the national rankings. To pro scouts, who pay no attention to either the crowd or the polls, it was a little disappointing in some respects. Where were the great quarterbacks of yesteryear? The best runners in college ball were juniors and therefore ineligible for the pro draft. Good defensive backs were hard to find. But last week, as they studied their notes and prepared for the draft, scouts from the 25 pro teams agreed that in many ways 1967 was a very good year indeed. Rarely had there been so many big, tough, fast linemen to choose from, or such a wealth of sticky-fingered pass receivers. For those positions, there was more competition than ever in the balloting for TIME'S annual pro-picked All-America.

OFFENSE

P:QUARTERBACK: Gary Beban, 21, U.C.L.A., 6 ft., 195 Ibs. Anybody who gains 5,358 yds. in three seasons of college ball figures to impress the pros; yet the scouts have mixed feelings about Beban. They applaud his "natural poise and confidence" and his "ability to make the big play when it's needed"--but they deplore his lack of height and his preference for rolling out rather than passing from the pocket. A better pro prospect, say some scouts, is Alabama's Ken ("Snake") Stabler, who is 3 in. taller than Beban, completed 60% of his passes in the tough Southeastern Conference. Stabler is an oddity because he is lefthanded, but the pros like his strong arm, quick release and thread-needle accuracy.

P:HALFBACKS: O. J. Simpson, 20, Southern Cal., 6 ft. 1 in., 202 Ibs., and Leroy Keyes, 20, Purdue, 6 ft. 3 in., 199 Ibs. Since Simpson and Keyes are juniors, the pros will have to wait for what one scout calls "two of the finest football players I've seen in 15 years." A 9.4-sec. man in the 100-yd. dash, Simpson was college football's No. 1 ground gainer with 1,415 yds. and an average of more than 5 yds. per carry. He can also throw passes and catch them--and a lot more. "If a coach put him in as a defensive back," says one scout, "I'm sure that in ten minutes he'd be the best defensive back on the field. He simply can do everything." So can Keyes. In Purdue's 28-21 victory over Notre Dame, he kicked off, played halfback and flanker on offense, and cornerback on defense. "Shifty power, great speed and acceleration," notes a scouting report. "Could play either offense or defense in the pros right now."

P:FULLBACK: Lee White, 21, Weber State, 6 ft. 4 in., 240 Ibs. "A sleeper," says one scout, apparently figuring that White would go unnoticed by the other bird dogs because he played for the small Ogden, Utah, school. Not so. A Little All-America, White carried the ball an average of 28 times a game, ran for 276 yds. against Idaho. "Doesn't have great outside speed," says a scouting report, "but really tough inside. An excellent blocker on both runs and passes. Will be among the first four draft picks."

P:ENDS: Haven Moses, 21, San Diego State, 6 ft. 3 in., 196 Ibs., and Dennis Homan, 21, Alabama, 6 ft., 182 Ibs. Like Fullback White, Moses played small-college ball--catching 57 passes in 1966, another 54 this year--while speedster Homan (9.8 sec. for the 100-yd. dash) was Ken Stabler's favorite target on the Cotton Bowl-bound Crimson Tide. One pro scout calls them "two of the best receivers ever to come along at one time." Both, he says, have "great speed and tremendous moves. They've got the head fakes and the hip fakes. They can go deep to beat you, and they're both tough enough to go across the middle, fight off the linebackers, and catch the short pass."

P:TACKLES: Ron Yary, 21, Southern Cal., 6 ft. 5 in., 245 Ibs., and John Williams, 22, Minnesota, 6 ft. 2 in., 253 Ibs. Chosen for last year's TIME All-America as a junior, Yary pared off 20 Ibs. this season. According to the pros, he still is "a muscleman, an outstanding blocker with surprising speed for his size." Williams is "tough, strong, very active and aggressive when he drops back for pass protection."

P:GUARDS: Curley Culp, 21, Arizona State, 6 ft. 1 in., 255 Ibs., and Edgar Chandler, 21, Georgia, 6 ft. 3 in., 222 Ibs. Although Culp played defense in college, he will be switched to offensive guard in the pros, has "amazing strength and the mobility necessary to make it big and quickly." Chandler, say the scouts, is equally mobile; he is, in fact, "quick enough to be used as a linebacker."

P:CENTER: Bob Johnson, 21, Tennessee, 6 ft. 4 in., 232 Ibs. Few college centers are big enough to make the grade with the pros, but Johnson has "all the size you could want." He is fast on the snap, an accurate center on punts, and a ferocious blocker. "He really stomps on them." Scouts figure that Johnson can beef himself up to around 250 Ibs.

DEFENSE

P:ENDS: Claude Humphrey, 21, Tennessee State, 6 ft. 6 in., 255 Ibs., and Bill Staley, 21, Utah State, 6 ft. 3 in., 243 Ibs. Humphrey's temperament earns him raves: "Mean, tall, strong and tough--but especially mean," reads a scouting report. Staley is "such a big boy that he just piles in there and knocks everyone over." Both Humphrey and Staley, say the pros, are "poison for quarterbacks--they have a real knack for rushing the passer. Against the run, they are strong enough to close off the inside and fast enough to pursue on sweeps."

P:TACKLES: Kevin Hardy, 22, Notre Dame, 6 ft. 5 in., 270 Ibs., and Dennis Byrd, 21, North Carolina State, 6 ft. 4 in., 255 Ibs. The only athlete in 21 years to earn his letter in three sports (football, baseball, basketball) at Notre Dame, Hardy, say the scouts, is "just a magnificent male animal." Both Hardy and Byrd were handicapped by injuries throughout much of the 1967 season, and both are inclined to laziness--a fact that worries the pros. But as one scout says: "They can play well when they want to"--and money may be all the incentive they need.

P:LINEBACKERS: Fred Carr, 21, Texas at El Paso, 6 ft. 5 in., 232 Ibs., Wayne Meylan, 21, Nebraska, 6 ft., 239 Ibs., and Mike McGill, 21, Notre Dame, 6 ft. 2 in., 230 Ibs. "You won't believe this guy," a scout says of Carr. "He runs 40 yds. in 4.6 sec.--which is the speed of a lot of flankers in this league." Another scout calls Carr "the best foot ball player I've seen this year"; a third predicts that he will be the first player picked in the pro draft. Meylan was "by far the best man on a disappointing Nebraska ball club." The pros like McGill's "determination and aggressiveness--and, as one scout says, "Notre Dame men don't disappoint you too often."

P:CORNERBACKS: Jim Smith, 21, Oregon, 6 ft. 3 in., 197 Ibs., and Major Hazelton, 22, Florida A. & M., 6 ft. 2 in., 190 Ibs. Since most colleges play a zone defense against passes (as opposed to the pros' man-to-man), defensive backs usually play "too loose," complains one scout, "for us to tell whether they can cover their man. So we look for strength and speed--for backs who are strong enough to come up and make the tackle on running plays and fast enough to stay with the flankers." Smith and Hazelton fill that bill. Smith has "the quickness of a cat," has been clocked in 9.7 sec. for the 100; Hazelton is a 9.6-sec. sprinter and "just loves to hit."

P:SAFETY MEN: Charles West, 21, Texas at El Paso, 6 ft. 1 in., 190 Ibs., and Tom Schoen, 21, Notre Dame, 5 ft. 11 in., 185 Ibs. West, say the scouts, has "excellent speed" and "the ability to diagnose an offensive play quickly." He also is "a sticker," pro parlance for a hard, sure tackier--an absolute necessity at safety, where a missed tackle means six points. An elusive punt returner (he has run back three for touchdowns in his college career), Schoen has "a nose for the ball"--a hard nose. "He's a real fighter," says one scout admiringly. "If I were going to war, I'd like to have him out in front of me."

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