He Wants to Make Name for Himself

He’s the best-kept secret in Southern California.

As next weekend’s NFL draft approaches, few except the true aficionados of college football have even heard of Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila.

But NFL scouts know him. They’ve been calling his coach at San Diego State, Ted Tollner. They have been trying Gbaja-Biamila out, clocking the defensive end, measuring his vertical leap. They have been listening to stories of his strong character and determination.

Everybody knows about the high-profile Southern California prospects--receiver R. Jay Soward and offensive lineman Travis Claridge at USC, and receiver Danny Farmer and fullback Durrell Price at UCLA.

Everybody knows about Florida State receiver Peter Warrick, Penn State defensive end Courtney Brown and linebacker LaVar Arrington, and Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington.

With the top players, the task is routine. Teams review their needs, see who’s left out there and then they grab him.

But what often makes or breaks a draft are the seldom-noticed gems buried in the later rounds.

Like, perhaps, Gbaja-Biamila.

His biggest liability, say the scouts, is his size. After arriving at San Diego State from Crenshaw High at 195 pounds, the 6-foot 3 1/2-inch Gbaja-Biamila bulked up to 240 and was good enough to set a school career sack record with 33.

His size won’t be big enough for the pros, but if he can add another five to 10 pounds, he might tempt a club to take him as a linebacker.

“He’s got a chance to be picked as high as the third round,” said Gil Brandt, longtime talent scout for the Dallas Cowboys who is now a consultant. “He is pretty good at rushing the passer, but the question is whether he will ever get big enough to withstand the force of the offensive linemen he’ll face in the pros. But he’s a hard worker and a good kid.”

Gbaja-Biamila, certainly not lacking in confidence, doesn’t feel his size is a handicap.

“I fear no man,” he said, sounding like someone who has never stepped onto a pro field. “Three hundred-pound offensive linemen feel pain. They’ll feel pain if I hit them.”

It was the idea of hitting people that first drew Gbaja-Biamila to football. Having been reared by Nigerian parents, to whom football meant soccer, he didn’t know anything about the American version of the sport until he started watching it on television.

“I saw guys getting hit and flying through the air and I wanted to do that” Gbaja-Biamila said.

And now, he wants to do it in the pros.

“If a team takes a chance on me, I am sure they are not going to regret it,” he said. “People get caught up in size. But remember David and Goliath.”

Of course, with so many Goliaths around, who needs David?

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The question facing Southern California’s big schools heading into the draft is, who needs their top prospects?

In only one of the last five years have fewer than four Trojans been drafted. This season there are two likely to go.

Respected draft analyst Joel Buchsbaum has Soward and Claridge getting picked in the second round.

Of Claridge, Buchsbaum says on the Internet, “Tough, solid, blue-collar offensive lineman who can play guard or right tackle, but has athletic limitations and limited potential from an athletic standpoint.”

Brandt has reservations about Soward.

“He’s very good, but sometimes, he’s very bad,” Brandt said. “He has great speed, but after running two great pass patterns, he’s liable to say he’s sick. Then, five minutes later, he may come back and do something very good again.

“Teams are concerned about him. I’m not saying he’s bad or does malicious things, but he sometimes does things that make people wonder about the guy.”

In Westwood, the two Bruins with the best chance of being selected are thought to be farther down the list.

Farmer, while an excellent receiver with sure hands who teamed with quarterback Cade McNown on one brilliant pass play after another, is questionable, in scouts’ eyes, because of a perceived lack of speed.

Price is considered solid, but not spectacular, borderline in terms of whether or not he’ll be drafted.

The only other Southern California athlete to draw much mention is safety Jack Williams from Azusa Pacific, a two-time NAIA Division II player of the year, but he is given only an outside chance of being taken.

The doubts about Williams center on the level of opposition he faced in excelling at his position.

Those doubts also will plague Gbaja-Biamila, who is determined to try the free-agent route if necessary, but will keep his fingers crossed and his eyes fixed on the TV on draft day.

“I am just going to leave it in God’s hands,” he said.