The 12 NFL scouts attending pro day at Duquesne last month checked their stopwatches and scribbled notes as Duquesne wide receiver Bruce Hocker and 10 other hopefuls from the area were timed in the 40-yard dash, had their vertical jumps measured and ran through agility drills

"Now it's all about the numbers," said Hocker, who is Duquesne's all-time receiving leader with 162 catches and second with 2,595 yards receiving and 33 touchdowns. "They don't care what school you went to. I proved I could play with anybody on any level in the all-star games."

---

THE DRAFT

• When: 3 p.m. Saturday
• TV: ESPN & NFL Network.

---

Hocker, the first player from Duquesne to participate in the Hula Bowl and the only player there from a non-scholarship football program, caught a 3-yard touchdown pass in Aina's 38-7 victory against the Kai team. Hocker, 6 feet 4, 215 pounds, also played for the United States against a team from Texas in the All-Star Challenge at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

"I think I'll be drafted," he said. "It's always a goal to hear your name called. Who knows who has what interest in me?"

Approximately 250 players will be selected in the 32-team draft that will be conducted with the first two rounds tomorrow and rounds three through seven Sunday.

"I have no plans to watch [the draft show] Saturday," said Hocker, who grew up in Upper Marlboro, Md., and graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School. "I'm going to the [Pittsburgh] zoo Sunday afternoon. Hopefully I'll have heard my name by then."

According to most analyses, Hocker and Central Michigan strong safety Curtis Cutts of Ford City are the two players from district colleges below the BCS level or players with local ties with the best chance of being drafted. Cutts (6-0, 214) is something of a mystery because an injury to his left shoulder and a high ankle sprain wrecked his senior season after a promising junior year.

Hocker understands you can get to the NFL from Duquesne because former Duquesne All-American Leigh Bodden spent the past five seasons as a part-time starter at cornerback with the Cleveland Browns before being traded to the Detroit Lions last month.

Hocker, who trained at a couple of speed camps after the season and has added 10 pounds of muscle while improving his speed, is satisfied with his preparation for what he hopes will be an NFL career.

"I felt everything went good, not great [at pro day]," Hocker said. "When everything was in my hands and in my control, I felt I did the best I could. I don't think I'd change anything I did."

Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt said NFL scouts have been requesting film on Hocker for two years and at least 25 teams watched Hocker in games this past season.

"They also looked at Derron [Thomas]," Schmitt said. "But the main reason they came was [to scout] Hocker."

Thomas, a 6-1, 240-pound linebacker, played this past season at Duquesne as a graduate student after earning a degree at Pitt. He started as a junior at Pitt but played sparingly his senior season. Thomas also participated at Duquesne's pro day.

Also attending the workouts were Tim McCutcheon, a Division II All-American offensive lineman from California University of Pennsylvania; Mike Butterfield, an All-American offensive lineman at Slippery Rock; and Kris Kasparek, a tight end from Akron University.

McCutcheon (6-4, 305), a Quaker Valley High School graduate and a two-time finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award given to the top lineman [offensive or defensive] in Division II, and Butterfield (6-7, 320) have impressed scouts with their agility for men their size. Kasparek (6-6, 265), a New Brighton resident, is being projected as an offensive lineman by many NFL scouts.

McCutcheon isn't the only player from California who has a shot to be drafted but probably will get to an NFL training camp as a free agent. Linebackers Kirby Griffin (Rochester High School) and Gary Butler (Langley) and wide receivers Jermaine Moye (Rochester) and Nathan Forse have all intrigued scouts.

Washington High School graduate Travis Thomas, who played running back and linebacker at Notre Dame, has also piqued the interest of some NFL teams.