Last season, the 6-foot-0, 240-pound Allen showed a knack for finding the end zone. Despite carrying just 45 times, with 17 receptions, he scored eight touchdown, an average of better than one every eight touches. Although he played a true fullback in college, clearing holes for Iowa's 1,000-yard tailback Ladell Betts the past two seasons, Allen doesn't think the label is a perfect fit.

"I'm not strictly a blocker," he said. "I run and catch the ball maybe better than I block. I think there's a lot of teams that can use a player like that. People ask me if I'd rather be a fullback or a tailback, and I tell them I'd actually like to do everything. I want to be in there in the one-back set. I want to run the ball, and run block. I can be versatile.

"It's a little frustrating to be labeled. Even in the Big 10, they don't give an award for a first- or second-team fullback. And we're on the field almost more than anybody else."

Scouts project Allen no higher than the third round and no lower than the fourth, and he'll have to go to just the right team playing the right kind of offense. Who could that be? Well, Philadelphia flew him in for a visit, New England worked him out, and Miami also showed serious interest at the combine.

It's understood that Fujita is a projection pick. A former high school slam dunk champion, Fujita probably works out a bit better than he plays. But his upside is huge, and at 6-5, 248, his size-speed ratio is outstanding. While he's not a finished project, some believe he could be a latter-day version of Ted Hendricks, with the ability to wreak havoc as a stand-up rusher or strongside linebacker. He at least has The Stork's wingspan.

The Giants, Patriots, Falcons, Packers and Rams all seem interested in Fujita, who was raised a Rams fan growing up in Camarillo, Calif., near Los Angeles. Scouts and draft analysts put him in the second- to fourth-round range, but Fujita says he's not counting on those projections. It's a mindset that he has developed thanks to a rather distinctive background. Fujita is adopted, with an adoptive father who is Japanese-American and an adoptive mother who is Caucasian, as he is.

"My background has made me more accepting of everything," he said. "It teaches you to take nothing for granted. I could have been an abortion statistic. The way I look at it, I don't care how big the gap is in terms of where I'm projected. The draft is just the first small step in what I hope my career will be.

"I'm prepared for anything. I'm hoping for something early, but I just want somebody to take a chance on me. I'm very optimistic. After my workouts and my meetings, it seems like a lot of teams are interested.

There are questions, however, about whether he can be effective running inside in the NFL, or if his game is strictly using his speed to turn the corner. But Scobey possesses a burning belief that he's more than a workout star. The former JUCO standout (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) bristles at the notion that he's too one-dimensional, pointing out that he has been productive everywhere he's played (60 touchdowns overall, including a KSU school record-tying 31 in just two seasons).

"I can do everything a team wants me to do," he said. "I can run inside. I can run outside. I can catch the ball, and I can block. I feel like I'm in the elite group of backs. Those guys like DeShaun Foster or William Green, they were making their names while I was at a JUCO. But if you look at the stats and measure everything up, I think I belong.

"We're all starting fresh now. The slate is clean, and we're all starting over from point zero. Everything that happens from now on will tell us who's the best running back from this class. There's been a lot of first-round backs who haven't made it. And a lot from the third or fourth round who have."

Scobey figures to be closer to the latter than the former. He could go as high as the second round, scouts say, but more than likely he'll last until the third. Teams that have shown steady interest include the Titans, Steelers, Dolphins and Eagles.

And Walker can cover some ground for a big man, witness his meteoric rise up most team's draft boards. Once considered a sixth-round prospect on a really bad team (Cal went 1-10 in 2001), Walker changed all that by running a speedy 5.2 at the Combine. When he bettered that to 5.02 at Cal's workout day, some talked about Walker even sneaking into the very bottom of the first round based on his superb athleticism.

More realistically, he's probably second to third-round material. But his flexibility, wing span and great speed will induce somebody to take an early gamble on him.

"You can always find small guys who can run," said one NFL personnel executive. "But if you're that size and can run, somebody's always going to take a flyer on you and hope you work out. When he ran a 5.2, it changed the whole landscape for him."

Walker projects to right tackle to start off, with the hope of eventually handling the tougher left tackle slot. Teams like the Jets, Raiders, Ravens and Patriots have charted his every step this spring.

Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.

 

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