Scouting for the 2005 draft By Gil Brandt Special to NFL.com (May 11, 2004) -- For the 47th year, the Playboy All-America Team has been put together. It's essentially a preseason all-star lineup of the best collegiate athletes from across the country selected by myself and Playboy sports editor Gary Cole. It also serves as a tremendous preview for the 2005 NFL Draft. Check out last year's list -- the amount of top draft picks is astonishing. Six of the first nine, 13 in the first round and 16 of the top 46 were on the Playboy team in '04. Included among them were Eli Manning (No. 1 overall), Robert Gallery (No. 2), Sean Taylor (No. 5), Kellen Winslow (No. 6), Roy Williams (No. 7) and Reggie Williams (No. 9). It goes without saying that any draft fan should make a note of the Playboy team every year and track their performance. Friday, 9:30 a.m.: This is when the weekend officially started because our first player -- linebacker A.J. Hawk from Ohio State -- arrived with his SID, Steve Snapp. More players arrived the same day until 5:30 p.m. when LSU head coach Nick Saban and three of his players landed. As part of the event, teams could do something totally fun on their own to earn points, and you wouldn't believe what four of the guys did. Mark Clayton, Antrel Rolle, Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and Kevin Burnett did synchronized backflips. You can imagine how athletic these guys are. Offense Player Pos. College Matt Leinhart QB USC Cedric Benson RB Texas Carnell "Cadillac" Williams RB Auburn Darren Sproles RB Kansas State Mark Clayton WR Oklahoma Braylon Edwards WR Michigan Heath Miller TE Virginia Alex Barron OT Florida State Elton Brown OG Virginia Greg Eslinger C Minnesota C.J. Brooks OG Maryland Andrew Whitworth OT LSU Defense Player Pos. College Dan Cody DL Oklahoma Shaun Cody DL USC Matt Roth DL Iowa Marcus Spears DL LSU Kevin Burnett LB Tennessee A.J. Hawk LB Ohio State Derrick Johnson LB Texas Josh Bullocks DB Nebraska Marlin Jackson DB Michigan Antrel Rolle DB Miami (Fla.) Corey Webster DB LSU Special Teams/Coach Player Pos. College Johnathan Nichols PK Ole Miss Antonio Perkins KR Oklahoma Tom Malone P USC Morgan Scalley Scholar athlete Utah State Nick Saban Coach LSU Bull riding champion: Cedric Benson. He stayed on for 14 seconds! Marcus Spears had the most attempts (seven) but did not stay on long for any of them. Benson was also Mr. Congeniality, always talking and being friendly with everyone else. Quiet but competitive: Corey Webster and Andrew Withworth, LSU. It's easy to see why LSU wins with people like these two. Whitworth, by the way, is 335 pounds and doesn't have a soft spot on him. Person everyone wanted to meet and talk with: Nick Saban, LSU head coach. Many of the players there either play for Saban or were recruited by Saban. He has this aura about him -- he's easily one of the most charismatic college coaches around.
