PHOTOS: AP AND SB FILE ILLUSTRATION: BRYANT FUKUTOMI / BFUKUTOMI@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii alums Chad Owens and Abraham Elimimian, Kahuku and BYU alum Aaron Francisco, Hawaii alum Tim Chang and Kahuku graduate Chris Kemoeatu, clockwise from top left, have a shot to be taken in this weekend's NFL Draft.

Locals are hopeful

Five football players with
Hawaii ties have a shot at being
drafted by the NFL this weekend

Chad Owens and Abraham Elimimian know the first three rounds of the NFL Draft tomorrow will likely pass without their names being called. But both will pay attention anyway.

"I'm hoping to get surprised and surprise a lot of people. The third round would be a blessing," said Owens, the kick returner and receiver from Roosevelt High School and the University of Hawaii. "But I feel that it will probably be no later than the fourth round. The teams know what they need, and I know a lot need a return guy. A lot of receivers go early."

That Owens' name is mentioned at all in connection with the draft should be inspiration to underdogs everywhere. Short and not particularly fast, Owens (now 5 feet 7 1/2 and 183 pounds) walked on at UH five years ago. Last December he walked off with an armful of school records and second-team Associated Press All-American honors as an all-purpose player.

Then he shined at the NFL Combine in strength and agility drills.

"I feel I did everything right and everything I could to give myself the best opportunity possible," Owens said.

While Owens' stock climbed in the offseason, Elimimian's dropped. At one point last year, he was considered the top cornerback prospect in the West. But his résumé was incomplete: It did not include a recorded 40-yard dash.

When Elimimian (5-9, 192) did run at the combine, he clocked a disappointing 4.71. He did better at a private workout for the Giants, Jaguars and 49ers, but the damage was done. Now the only reason Elimimian will watch the draft tomorrow is to see what happens to friends he made at the Senior Bowl and the combine.

"We're all in this together," he said. "Mark Clayton, the receiver from Oklahoma, he and I exchanged jerseys. J.J. Arrington, Darren Sproles, some others. I'll be watching for them."

It won't be on the first day, but Elimimian still figures to be drafted because of his versatility. In addition to covering opponents' best receivers, Elimimian displayed tenacity as a tackler in run support while at UH. He is also an outstanding special-teams player.

Chris Kemoe'atu is likely to be picked on the first day. The 6-foot-4, 341-pound Kahuku and Utah alum is considered one of the best guards available this year, and will probably go in the second or third round.

One of Kemoe'atu's strongest attributes also could be his albatross. It's his aggressiveness streak. Kemoe'atu was disciplined for incidents during his junior year in which he was over-zealous physically. He underwent anger management counseling in the offseason, and most reports indicate NFL scouts are satisfied that his temper is under control.

"The interviews I've had lately, the teams seem comfortable with me," Kemoe'atu said after he returned home yesterday from training in Utah.

His brother, Ma'ake, is a defensive lineman on the Baltimore Ravens.

"It would be nice," Chris said of a possible reunion as teammates. "But I'll be happy with any team that chooses me."

Kemoe'atu's high school teammate Aaron Francisco (they won Kahuku's first state championship together in 2000) was one of the best play-making safeties in the nation for three seasons at BYU. But college productivity doesn't always translate into pro draftability, and Francisco was marked down for slow 40 times at the NFL combine. At 6-2 and 211 pounds, it is possible Francisco could grow into a linebacker. Another knock, however, is Francisco's lack of hip flexibility, according to one scout.

Former Saint Louis and Hawaii quarterback Tim Chang (6-1, 211) is another prime example of big college production not leading to high draft prospects.

Chang finished his career as the NCAA's all-time passing yardage leader. But that doesn't mean much to scouts, who labeled him a "system quarterback" because the yards were accumulated in June Jones' four-receiver offense. Also, most of it was done against Western Athletic Conference defenses, considered inferior to those in major conferences.

His attributes include a very quick release and the ability to read defenses quickly.

It's close to a toss-up if Chang will be drafted or picked up as a free agent.

Several other former UH players could be picked up as free agents. Defensive tackles Lui Fuga and Matt Faga, offensive lineman Uriah Moenoa and running back West Keli'ikipi might find themselves in NFL rookie camps next month.

When stars are few, the biggest ones
can come from deep in the draft

NEW YORK » Brett Favre was the 33rd pick in the 1991 NFL Draft and his good pal Michael Strahan went 40th two years later. Ray Lewis was 26th overall in 1997 and Ed Reed 24th three years ago.

Which proves you don't always need a high pick to corral stars, a development likely to be demonstrated again tomorrow when commissioner Paul Tagliabue opens this year's auction. This is a draft where the top 10 is a crap shoot and a lot of good players will be available later -- the four above-mentioned players include a three-time MVP and three defensive players of the year.

"There is not that much difference between when we pick and the late part of the first round," said New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, who gave up this year's first-round pick in the 2004 deal that got the Giants Eli Manning. Accorsi now doesn't get a choice until No. 43.

"I think it is the same quality of athlete. But I don't think that in any way is disparaging toward the draft," Accorsi said. "I think it really speaks to how deep the draft is, at least the first half of the draft."

That's because scouts can only project what they think a player can do over the course of his career.

In fact, scouting may have become more difficult.

The NFL scouting combine, coupled with the "Pro Days" now held routinely on college campuses, can lead to overanalysis, especially since big-time agents and agencies now run schools on how to perform better in workouts.

Not how to play better, how to work out better.

Smart executives go with playing over working out and testing. "You can't beat performing well at a high level," Detroit Lions president Matt Millen said.

"The combine is nice, the measures are great, but a lot of people run around in T-shirts and shorts that can't play the game," San Diego general manager A.J. Smith said. "If a player we like backs it up with numbers, then he goes up a notch."

Still, it's hard not to be tempted by workout figures -- a guy who runs a 4.3-second 40-yard dash opens eyes even when he hasn't had much of a college career.

Especially this year.

San Francisco, which for so many years picked at the end, now opens the draft after a 2-14 season and has identified three players as possibilities: quarterbacks Alex Smith of Utah and Aaron Rodgers of California and wide receiver Braylon Edwards of Michigan. It looks like Smith is the favorite, although agent Tom Condon wants more money than he got last year from the Giants for Manning after they dealt up to get him.

San Francisco's dilemma, however, is that this is a draft with no single standout. And it's deepest from around 20 to 60 or 80 -- places where Favre, Strahan, Lewis and Reed were taken in past years.

So a lot of good players should come out of the second and early third rounds. Near the top is riskier, because most scouts don't think either Smith or Rodgers is as good a prospect as last year's top three QBS: Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger.

So teams with high picks want to trade out, although there are few takers.

"Just because you have the second pick in the draft doesn't mean it's surefire. Everything is time and circumstance," whined Nick Saban, the new Miami coach, who seems to want to trade the pick.

"We can only take the best player who is available. You know who is out there. Is there a Julius Peppers out there? Do you see one?" Saban added in a reference to Carolina's All-Pro defensive end, second overall in 2002.

Saban's lament only emphasizes what football people know about all drafts: there is no sure thing, even at the top. It's more so in this year's selections.

"If you are looking for a certain type of player, there is going to be a group that really appeals to you and there is going to be another group that you just really don't have much use for but are going to be drafted because teams are going to be looking for those types of players," said New England coach Bill Belichick, whose best pick ever was a lucky one: quarterback Tom Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 draft.