Duke's NFL dilemma

Senior cornerback John Talley is projected as an NFL draft pick. Attracting more players who draw the attention of pro scouts would help the Devils build a more successful program

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could very well be calling Duke senior cornerback John Talley's name when the 2007 draft rolls around. Talley, a preseason All-America who is projected in some mock drafts as a second-round pick, would be the first Duke player taken that high since 1999.

Great news for Talley, nice news for Duke. But it will take more than one high NFL draft pick to help lift up the school's football program.

Any college football coach will tell you that winning games starts with talent and that players who make it to the NFL are among the best. Stockpile enough of them and you're good to go.

There are four former Duke players in the NFL -- linebacker Ryan Fowler in Dallas; Cleveland's offensive lineman Lennie Friedman, who was Denver's second-round pick in 1999; and long snapper Patrick Mannelly in Chicago. Offensive lineman Drew Strojny is on the practice squad in St. Louis.

"Don't get me wrong. We want guys who want to play in the NFL," Duke coach Ted Roof said. "The more talented football team you have, the more chance you have to win."

Compare that to Virginia, which the Blue Devils (0-3) host at Wallace Wade Stadium today at noon in their homecoming game. The Cavaliers (1-3) have 29 alumni currently playing in the NFL. Eighteen players have been drafted under head coach Al Groh's watch alone.

In the ACC, Miami, which won a national title in 2001, and Florida State, which has won 12 ACC titles in the past 14 seasons, have a combined 92 NFL players.

Talley, who ranks second among active Division I-A players with 12 career interceptions, said he never thought about the NFL when he was in high school. He thought more about the impact he could have on the Duke program.

But Talley's impact could be magnified considerably if he is a high NFL draft pick.

"I think it would draw more attention to our program and bring along other players and more fans," Talley said. "Not only does talent help win games, it helps attract more players."

Those three letters -- NFL -- have a strong hold on the best high school players, said Jamie Newberg, a national recruiting analyst for Scout.com.

"Any time a school can say it has 'X' number of NFL players, it validates what that school does as a program," Newberg said.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said he tells recruits about his former players who were NFL draft picks -- 227 over 30 years at last count.

"We definitely talk about it because it's a plus," Bowden said. "When a kid goes to college, if he's a real player, his two biggest thoughts are academics and pro ball."

At Miami, which boasts the most No. 1 picks (44) in the nation since 1983, the NFL players help the program by coming back to the school to work out during the summers. Miami coach Larry Coker remembered a recent summer when 11 first-round NFL draft picks worked out in the Hurricanes' weight room.

"We're a pretty young traditional program since we won our first national title in 1983," Coker said. "So many of our alumni are players that our current players know and can identify with and watch play on Sundays."

N.C. State coach Chuck Amato has produced 12 NFL draft picks in the past three seasons and 18 total in his first six years.

Amato says telling recruits about the Pack's success in sending players to the NFL can't hurt. It also makes the Wolfpack boosters happy.

"There's no question [our fans] take pride in it," Amato said.

Fowler, in his third season at Dallas, says Duke players know they could be facing an uphill battle getting to the NFL.

"Anyone who goes to Duke isn't under any sort of false pretenses that he's there to specifically be trained for the NFL," Fowler said. "They know it's a strike against them."

Former NFL scout Tom Marino said teams do not ignore schools like Duke or Wake Forest just because they don't traditionally produce scads of NFL players.

"Players come from all different kinds of schools from the smallest of the small on up," said Marino, who most recently scouted the Southeast for the St. Louis Rams.

Marino said better college teams tend to produce more skill position players, athletes who can impact a game.

"Quarterbacks, running backs or defensive ends, those guys can influence outcomes of the games," Marino said.

Friedman, in his eighth NFL season and his first in Cleveland, doesn't think Duke needs more NFL prospects to fix a program that has lost 11 straight ACC games.

"I would love to see more Duke players in the NFL," said Friedman, who keeps an offseason home in Raleigh and often works out at Duke. "But I don't think it's that big of a deal for the program. We have new facilities there which are outstanding. The coaching staff is great."

Roof doesn't worry about the recruiting impact of having so few players in the NFL.

His past two recruiting classes were ranked among the top 35 in the nation. Defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase has size that could to attract NFL attention in a few years.

The sooner Roof, who is 5-25 since taking over in 2003, gets NFL-like talent the better.

"We're working to get talented players that one day will have the ability to play in the NFL," Roof said. "For sure."