Heyword-Bey Gets a Rough Initiation - PFT
 

HEYWARD-BEY GETS A ROUGH INITIATION
Posted by Mike Florio on May 11, 2009, 10:27 a.m. EDT
He finished the weekend by skipping practice, as he nursed a sore hamstring. At one point before the muscle revolted, he dropped three straight passes.

But rookie receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey likely got the biggest splash of cold water in eyes that at some point could be blamed for his lack of production during his first snap against an NFL cornerback.

Nnamdi Asomugha.

Heyward-Bey did everything he was supposed to do. And Asomugha was in place to prevent him from catching the ball.

“I came back,”and I just went, ‘All right, I’m not in college anymore,’” Heyward-Bey said, according to Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times.

And since Heyward-Bey could generate only 600 yards and change “in college” last season, that’s not an encouraging observation for Raiders fans.

Many teams have rookies practice only against other first-year players at their initial camp, preventing such “welcome to the next level, bitch” moments for guys who already are feeling nervous about their new jobs.

The challenge for each team is to decide whether to give the incoming players a chance to build confidence by competing against each other, or to throw them into the fray.

On one hand, it’s a good way to begin the process of smoking out a bust.

On the other hand, it’s a good way to begin the process of smoking out a bust.

Of any first-round pick who doesn’t play quarterback for the Detroit Lions, no rookie will be more scrutinized than Heyward-Bey. He was the first receiver taken in the draft, ahead of Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Percy Harvin, Hakeem Nicks, and Kenny Britt.

With Crabtree playing for the nearby 49ers, it’s safe to say that someone in the Bay Area media will be charting every aspect of their respective performances — catches, yards, touchdowns, and drops — on a regular basis.

No one expects Heyward-Bey to make a first-year impact like Randy Moss did in 1998. But the decision of a team with unconventional methods and a recent history of questionable moves to make Heyward-Bey the seventh overall pick is prompting many to sit back and practice their delivery of the possible epitaph to his career.

“I told you so.”

Will it ever end????


Boy, I hope not. :D

Awesome pick there...

Enjoy that raider fans. ROFL

Who knew catching the ball would be such a huge part of playing receiver in the NFL?

What about Mike Mitchell?

Nice, i hope he gives everyone flashbacks to the Ryan Leaf moment.

It's going to suck even worse when he has to learn how to catch from a different QB after next years draft.

Thanks Al, really.

ROFL They are going to ruin him. While it makes me look bad from a draft standpoint since I was pimping DHB, I will love every minute of that team imploding.

Al knows the first thing you need to do is break the rookie's spirit. Mission accomplished. He's already dropping passes with Raider-like efficiency. The system that gave us James Jett is still as finely honed as it ever was.

Don't worry guys..if the DHB experiment fails miserably...they can still put fear into the rest of the AFC West with the dreaded Samie Parker.

Yeah, but did you see how fast he was? It's the QB's fault--DHB ran so fast that every throw was probably behind him.

The guy is on his way to bust-mania. I never liked him comming out of college. If you go to draft planet, and look for my post in the 2010 draft class thread you can see my short scouting report on him. Like ive said. I watched 5 guys play that were in college last year. Heyward-Bey was one of them. Not impressed. Thats all I can say.

"I watched 3 games on Heyward-Bey, and was not real impressed. I guess to be fair Maryland just doesnt throw the ball that much. He has awesome straight-line speed obviously, and can accelerate away from defenders. But that was in college, in the NFL I dont see him being anything special. He drops too many passes from what ive seen. I would say, Crabtree, Maclin, Harvin, Nicks, even Ramses Barden will end up with better NFL careers than Heyward-Bey. I think he is an alright kid, pretty soft-spoken in his interviews but I will be very surprised if he ends up having a good NFL career. Hes the type of player that might have 50 catches for 800 yards his rookie year, but NFL teams will quickly figure him out and be able to shut him down."


Saved you the time... :)

Yep.

I was vocal about DHB too. Anybody that read my commentary in the DraftPlanet forum KNEW this was coming. :)