NFL Draft -- Milloy Could Get An Early Call

Lawyer Milloy is about to fortify the deep patrol of an NFL team.

On Saturday he will find out which one.

The Washington Husky safety is expected to be the drafted in the first round or second round. Most analysts consider him the best safety in the draft.

Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr., calls Milloy "one of my favorite players in the draft, mainly because of his tremendous desire and week-to-week consistency."

Milloy is leaving school a year early to play for pay and said he has "no regrets" about his decision.

"It was just time for me to go," he said last week from Boston, where the Patriots had summoned him for a final round of interviews. A day earlier, he had been in Kansas City. Milloy has been criss-crossing the country since the Husky season ended, picking up postseason awards as a consensus All-American and being tested and interviewed by NFL teams.

"I'm ready to get it over with," Milloy said. "I'm ready to meet my new teammates and play football."

Milloy, 6 feet, 210 pounds, was used as a combination safety-linebacker for the Huskies, who often positioned him near the line of scrimmage.

Milloy's speed (4.55 for 40-yard dash), hard hitting and tackling skills explain his attractiveness to NFL teams. Evaluators say he needs improvement in man-on-man pass coverage skills.

Milloy is aware that his man-coverage skills are under scrutiny.

"I didn't do a lot of it my first two years," he said, adding that he is confident he can do it.

Willy Robinson, who coaches the Seahawk secondary, shares that confidence.

"We think it's a matter of repetitions," Robinson said, noting that Husky strategy didn't call for a lot of "man" coverage by Milloy.

"For their (Washington's) scheme, he did exactly what they wanted done and he did it awfully well," Robinson said.

Because the Seahawks' biggest need in the secondary is for a cornerback, Milloy's chances of staying in Seattle are slim. Robinson said he would be delighted to have Milloy because of his "power and explosiveness" and attitude.

"His personality is such that you won't have to get him to giddy-up," Robinson said. "You'll always be telling him, `Whoa!' He wants to get after it and I like that part of it."

Among teams with needs at safety are Kansas City, Arizona, New England and New Orleans.

Milloy was a free safety for the Huskies but is likely to begin his pro career as a strong safety. In most schemes, strong safeties usually cover running backs and tight ends rather than wideouts in "man" coverage.

Milloy is on the threshold of being wealthy but said, "I don't think money is happiness."

One thing he wants to do is "buy my mom a house."

That would be another chapter in his rise from a tough childhood. When Milloy was 15, there was a drug bust at his home while he was at a football practice. His father went to prison and his mother went through drug treatment. The future Husky star lived with a friend's family while he attended Tacoma's Lincoln High School.

Milloy said his parents are separated but "are friends" and he is proud of them for "changing their lives around."