Let's be honest, there are many of us who were ready to give up on Heyward-Bey. There were many who were ready to call him an absolute bust. For those of us who supported him, we were prepared to be disappointed.
We saw his fellow 2009 first-round receivers outproduce him. We even saw his own teammates, who were drafted well after him, show more of an offensive impact.
In fact, I remember a Raider fan of this very site quote: "Louis Murphy and Jacoby Ford have surpassed DHB in both production and legend."
Really?
It is hard to believe that two young receivers who have yet to even have a 1,000-yard season all of a sudden establish a concrete legend. But I think that frustration was felt by everyone. Why?
Because in this day and age, no one is willing to give rookie players, regardless of position, the time to mature as an NFL player when they are getting paid millions of dollars.
Maybe now that the NFL has a rookie salary cap, that will change. But I doubt it.
Every expert had the Raiders taking Michael Crabtree with the No. 7 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. When the Raiders instead picked Heyward-Bey, all you heard was, "Who?"
I had been living in Maryland for a year, a state that has a huge college football fan base, and I had no idea who this guy was.
For the record, I wanted Eugene Monroe, the top-five talent at left tackle. Monroe eventually went to the Jacksonville Jaguars and he is not exactly a dominating force.
Fast forward to 2011 and now it seems like DHB is showing why Al Davis took the chance on him.
Heyward-Bey, over the last four games, is averaging five receptions and 101 reception yards per game. That's something no receiver on this roster has done, and something that Michael Crabtree has never done over th...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
