Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 10:34 a.m.
Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-2324.
His team isn't going to win the Mountain West Conference title.
His team isn't even going to go to a bowl game for the third consecutive year.
But it still looks as though safety Jamaal Brimmer made the right choice to return for his senior year at UNLV.
Brimmer, who is on track to graduate with a double major in communications and sociology this year, was told by National Football League advisers that he would likely be a fourth-round pick if he bypassed his senior year and entered last spring's NFL Draft.
But despite the fact opposing teams are scheming their offenses to stay away from him this season, Brimmer's stock seems to be skyrocketing.
In the Oct. 25 issue of The Sporting News, the magazine's Draft Dish section says that Brimmer, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound Durango High graduate, has catapulted his way into the first round in next May's NFL Draft.
"UNLV SS Jamaal Brimmer is a backfield assassin with great instincts and tremendous attacking ability," it states. "His speed won't impress, but he plays fast, has an uncanny sense for the ball and is an excellent tackler. He has moved into Round 1."
Elsewhere in the same issue, Brimmer is listed as one of five "diamonds in the rough."
"His speed is an issue, but scouts overlook it because of his powerful play in run support. A mid-first round pick," it reads.
If Brimmer is still ranked that high after all the nitpicking that follows the combines and postseason all-star games, he would become the first Rebel picked in the first round.
The highest draft pick in school history was Ickey Woods in 1998. He was a second-round selection (No. 31 overall) by the Bengals before shuffling his way into NFL history.
The Web site NFLdraftblitz.com, which also includes expected underclass prospects, currently ranks Brimmer as the 68th player available in its Top 100.
It has him going in the second round and 50th overall to the Houston Texans, one pick ahead of San Diego State linebacker Kirk Morrison (Seahawks).
Why? Because a BCS bowl bid would mean at least $1 million per school when bowl revenues are divided equally among conference members.
"I think we'd be crazy if we didn't (pull for Utah)," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "I wasn't rooting for them last Saturday night (when the Rebels got smoked, 63-28, by the Utes). I am now, damn right. Each of us gets a million dollars --- not each coach but each university gets a million dollars. It's the dream our conference has kind of had since its inception."
New Mexico coach Rocky Long, whose team handed the Utes their last loss, 47-35, last season, agreed.
"Now that they've already beaten us (28-7), I'm pulling for them because I think it's good for the league," Long said. "It's good for Utah, but I think its good for the league and everybody in the league."
The Utes (7-0, 3-0) will try to win their 12th consecutive game on Saturday at last-place San Diego State (2-5, 0-3). And don't think Aztecs players don't know what's riding on the outcome. "We're damned if we do, damned if we don't," senior safety Josh Dean told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "We might as well win."
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