Darrius Heyward-Bey Made His Catches Count

by John Morgan on Apr 16, 2009 3:13 PM PDT

It's true Darrius Heyward-Bey did not amass many receiving yards in college, and it's true his star has risen atop the odious plume of a superlative Combine performance, but then Eddie Royal did almost the exact same thing last season. Royal made his college receptions count. So did Heyward-Bey. Royal consistently faced top defenses. Ten of the 25 opponents Hayward-Bey faced were ranked in the top 30 in defensive FEI.

Targets: 49

Catches: 37

Yards per Target: 11.16

Over those ten games Bey was targeted on 16.7% of his quarterback pass attempts. Maclin was targeted on 21.9% of his quarterback pass attempts over his seven games. So, Maclin may be the better possession receiver. Heyward-Bey, by contrast, rakes fewer possessions and makes noise. He had eight receptions of 20 or more yards, five of 30 or more yards, and four touchdown receptions. Clemson managed to shut him down in back-to-back seasons, allowing just two targets and two incompletes. Maybe that would be an instructive tape to watch. Nevertheless, projecting future performance is about innate talent and previous production. Hayward-Bey didn't have the quarterbacks or offense to contend with Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin or Juaquin Iglesias, but what he had he worked with, and his production per target is exceptional.

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Comments

He reminds me of Jason Hill.

For all this timed speed, neither play fast.

"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."

by Fearless Frog on Apr 16, 2009 3:41 PM PDT reply actions

What's with all the posts regarding players we most likely won't be in position to draft?

I was thinking a good post would be something that discusses a particular position of need (or semi-need) and what possible moves the Hawks could make to fulfill that need.

I.E. you could do something on left tackle and talk about

a) the potential for Lock to take the spot
b) possible draft picks at #4 (or trade downs) like Monroe or even Oher
c) possible later picks in the 2-4th rounds.
d) the possibilty of running with what we’ve got and waiting until next year

I know you’ve talked about individual players, but I was hoping for discussion on topics such as just how much better is Monroe than Oher, or either of them and say Beatty or Loadholt?

Of course, I certainly don’t mean to say I don’t LIKE the posts regarding Howard-Bey, Maclin et al… it’s all great reading and good background for other teams’ moves come ten days from now.

by djafrot on Apr 16, 2009 4:10 PM PDT reply actions