Former Turtle Must Prove That He's Not Just a Hare

INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 20 -- The buildup to this year's NFL draft has begun in earnest now that talent evaluators for the league's 32 teams have gathered here for the annual scouting combine. And one of the more intriguing players during this pre-draft evaluation process is Darrius Heyward-Bey, the wide receiver who chose to skip his final season of eligibility at the University of Maryland.

Representatives of several NFL teams said in recent days they consider Heyward-Bey a bit of a curiosity. They love his talent level, they said, but wonder why his receiving numbers at Maryland last season weren't more impressive.

Some draft observers seem to regard Heyward-Bey as a potential first-round pick in April. Others appear less than convinced.

"I want to see more of him," Washington Redskins Coach Jim Zorn said Friday. "I'm really just skimming the surface. I watched him walk through today. He looks pretty athletic. I don't know about his production yet. . . . I think the testing here will tell us a lot."

If that's the case, Heyward-Bey probably should be in good shape. He has the size and speed to be impressive in settings such as the scouting combine and other pre-draft workouts for scouts. He said Friday he was measured here at 6 feet 2 and 210 pounds. He is a former standout sprinter in high school who indicated he expects to be timed at 4.3 or 4.4 seconds when the wide receivers run their 40-yard dashes at the combine.

"I just want to run something comfortable," Heyward-Bey said. "Nothing too crazy. I don't want to strain myself out there, just do something nice and comfortable."

Heyward-Bey expressed confidence about his ability to thrive in the NFL.

"I do believe I'm a game-breaker," he said. "I made big plays at College Park and I think I'll continue to do that in the future."

Heyward-Bey demonstrated at Maryland that he is a big-play threat. That, it seems, isn't in question for NFL coaches and executives. But they wonder about his consistency. He had a relatively modest 42 catches in 12 games last season. Talent evaluators must figure out if that is a flaw in Heyward-Bey's game, a function of what opposing defenses were doing against the Terrapins or the fault of Maryland's offense.

"When you realize why the productivity is not there, if you start looking and see the lack of passing or the lack of production in the passing game, you kind of can forgive that and project: How would he do?" Zorn said. "It just takes extra time, so it takes extra effort to look at not only the testing here, but then to go to his school and make sure you work him out. You watch his pro day. There are almost three things you can do: testing here, his own pro day, and then you go out and work him again."

The Redskins are unlikely to choose a wide receiver early in this draft after selecting two, Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly, in the second round last year. NFL teams generally covet gifted wide receivers early in the draft. But last year, the run on picking wideouts didn't begin until the second round.

The wide receivers should start coming off the board far earlier this time around with Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree, Missouri's Jeremy Maclin and Florida's Percy Harvin projected as first-rounders. The question is whether Heyward-Bey and perhaps a few other wideouts can sneak into the first round as well.

How to evaluate a draft prospect -- which factors to stress and which to discard -- remains a highly inexact science for the decision-makers for NFL teams.

"If you prioritize what's most important, it starts with the [game] film and what kind of player he is," New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton said. "You do factor in all the other things that go into it. But the hardest part of this whole process is how important football is to the player, how much he loves the game. That's the inexact part of what we're doing."

The case of Heyward-Bey will put those evaluation skills to the test. Heyward-Bey said those NFL talent evaluators who study him closely will find him ready to make a smooth transition to the professional ranks in part because of the offensive system in which he played at Maryland under Coach Ralph Friedgen, a former San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator.

"I played in the pro-style offense," Heyward-Bey said. "I played in the West Coast [offensive system]. I understand how to sight-adjust to coverages. I think that's something people don't really think about when it comes to football. Everybody is really worried about the 40 time, worried about how many stats you have. But do you understand football? Are you ready to come into the NFL game and know what you're doing? I think I have that knowledge."