Outlaws to choose 5th in draft

Victoria Sun

Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 | 11:50 a.m.

The order of selection for Saturday's inaugural XFL draft:

1. Los Angeles Xtreme

2. Birmingham Bolts

3. Memphis Maniax

4. Orlando Rage

5. Las Vegas Outlaws

6. San Francisco Demons

7. New York/New Jersey Hitmen

8. Chicago Enforcers

Building a team from scratch is nothing new for Las Vegas Outlaws head coach Jim Criner.

And that's exactly what Criner and his staff will be doing starting Saturday.

Criner, Outlaws director of player personnel Don Gregory and vice president/ general manager Bob Ackles will be in Chicago for the inaugural XFL draft. The first 10 rounds will be held in Chicago and the rest of the draft, which concludes on Monday, will be conducted via teleconference.

"It (the draft pool) is very impressive," Criner said. "Up until the XFL goes onto the field the second-best football played in the world is NFL Europe.

"But I think people are going to take notice when they see the types of players we have attracted."

As determined by the draft lottery that took place in Chicago Thursday afternoon, the Outlaws will have the fifth pick of the first round. The Los Angeles Xtreme nabbed the first pick.

Following the first round, each team will select in reverse order. So the team with the eighth pick also will have the ninth pick and the Xtreme won't pick again until the final pick of the second round.

"There are going to be four players gone ahead of when we pick, but fifth is good," Ackles said. "We'll take the best player who we have on our board at the time.

"We should get three pretty good players based on our information. We have our board stacked one through probably 400 and also by position."

Criner spent the last six years coaching the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe, leading the team to the 1996 World Bowl title. This year the Claymores lost in the championship game.

"In NFL Europe, we were only allowed to protect six players off the previous teams so we had to put our team together from scratch every year," Criner said. "I've had a good background with my years there and I feel good about how much we know about all the players in the draft."

Some of the more recognizable names in the 1,600 player draft pool are former Virginia Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmiller, former UCLA quarterback Tommy Maddox and former Colorado running back and Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam.

Though troubled Nebraska running back Lawrence Philips was rumored to be signing with the Outlaws, Ackles said Thursday that his name was not on the list of draft-eligible players.

On Saturday, the list of each team's 11 territorial picks will be released prior to the draft. UNLV, Brigham Young and Nebraska are Las Vegas' territorial schools.

"After we find out who protected who (in the territorial draft) there will be some scrambling around on Saturday," Criner said. "But it's something we're prepared to handle."

Criner estimates that he and his coaching staff have logged 15 hours a day for a month evaluating each player by watching them go through drills at the four national combines the league held earlier this year, working them out in Las Vegas, calling agents and coaches, and reviewing game tape.

The Outlaws then graded each player on his work ethic, athletic ability, speed, football intelligence and the ability to make plays.

"I'm very confident it will pay dividends," Criner said of the long hours. "Maybe not in getting the big-time name guys that are obvious to everyone, but in putting together solid picks every round.

"And I think because we know something about every player in the draft that we might be able to find a few gems other teams might have overlooked."