Black, Brown ranked best of the Rebels

Steve Guiremand

Friday, April 20, 2001 | 10:16 a.m.

When the two-day NFL draft begins Saturday morning, a handful of UNLV football players will be sitting by their phones waiting for "the call."

More than likely, they'll have to wait until Sunday's later rounds before the phone rings -- if then.

Depending on which draft expert you listen to, safety Randy Black or running back Kevin Brown will be the first Rebel to be picked. Others who will be keeping their fingers crossed that they get picked include running back Jeremi Rudolph, wide receiver Nate Turner, offensive lineman John Greer and punter Ray Cheetany.

Black, who has visted more than a dozen NFL teams in the last couple of months, said he has been told he could be picked "between the third and the fifth rounds."

Draftnik Joel Buchsbaum of Pro Football Weekly, however, rated Black just 27th on his list of college safeties accompanied by a rating that would mean the Clark High graduate likely won't be picked until the sixth or seventh round.

Meanwhile, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. did not include Black among his top seven safety prospects but listed him first in his category of "Other safeties of note."

UNLV head coach John Robinson said he heard that Brown, who rushed for 788 yards on just 148 carries (5.3 avg.), "has the best chance (to be drafted) in the third or fourth round and after that we're just hoping."

Buchsbaum ranked the 6-1, 225-pound Brown just 25th among running backs with a rating that indicated he probably wouldn't be drafted. Kiper, meanwhile, didn't include Brown among his top 15 running backs but listed him in his "Other running backs of note."

NFL scouts apparently frowned on the hard-nosed Rudolph, UNLV's first back since Ickey Woods in 1987 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, because of his lack of size. Rudolph measured just 5-7 1/2 and 175 pounds and had a 4.58 time in the 40. Buchsbaum rated him 54th among running backs.

Perhaps an even bigger surprise is that the 6-1, 205-pound Turner, arguably the best receiver in the Mountain West Conference this year and one of the stars of UNLV's 31-14 Las Vegas Bowl win of Arkansas, isn't rated higher.

Buchsbaum rates Turner No. 101 on his list of wide receivers while Kiper doesn't list him among his top 45 at the position.

"I don't think he's rated very high because of his speed (4.75 in the 40)," Robinson said. "But I've called around about him. I think he could be a late round pick or a free agent signee. I think he'd be a good H-Back for some teams."

Greer, who played tackle for the Rebels en route to first team all-Mountain West Conference honors, is listed as the 20th best guard prospect by Buchsbaum. Because of his lack of height -- Greer measured only 6-3 as opposed to his listed 6-5 -- he'll have to move inside to play in the NFL. He also was timed at just 5.36 in the 40.

Cheetany is rated the sixth best punting prospect by Buchsbaum but will likely sign as a free agent after the draft.