San Francisco 49ers David Ball Jerry Rice

Nearly every day, I receive an e-mail or two asking me to profile sleeper prospects for the San Francisco 49ers in the upcoming draft. Seeing as how I've all but exhausted my options when it comes to writing about potential first-round selections, I'm going to be focusing on these players for the next 2010 pro bowl Vikings 4 Brett Favre jersey
several weeks. Besides, when it comes to the draft, few things are more interesting than talking about players casual fans have never heard of. Forget mock drafts and guessing who is going to go where -- what I enjoy the most is informing people of these unknown players and working my way around what might become of them in the NFL.That said, our first sleeper prospect in this line of columns will be David Ball, the wide receiver from New Hampshire who...well, I'll just let this e-mail from Eva Hernandez introduce him."Will you profile David Ball? I've read some interesting comments about him, and I'm wondering if you could put together some info. Of course everyone compares everyone to Jerry Rice. (Would he) be a steal in the third or fourth round?"No, I would not call him a steal in the third round. In fact, I'd call his selection in the third round a draft-day reach of epic proportions. Ball is expected to go on the second day, anywhere from the late fourth to late sixth round, depending on the person you ask. Then again, Matt Millen does love him some receivers, so who knows? Anyway, it's true that a few misguided individuals have compared Ball to Jerry Rice, but as you pointed out, Eva, just about every standout receiver from Division I-AA is said to be the next Rice. The fact that Ball's 58 career touchdown catches broke Rice's record lends credence to this comparison, but is he going to be anything special in the pros? Is he going to be a player of Rice's or even Terrell Owens' caliber? It's doubtful. When you take a look at most standout receivers from the small college ranks, each of them possess something tangible. Rice had amazing hands and unbelievable football speed (he clocked a slow 40 time in college, but everyone knows how fast he really was). Owens and the New Orleans Saints' Marques Colston have size and are able to use their bodies to their advantage to come down with the catch. Ball? He's not very big (6-foot-1, 196 pounds), he's not fast (4.70 40 time), and he's not the most athletic player on the field, either. He does, however, have excellent hands and is an adept route runner. So no, he does not remind me of Jerry Rice. What he does remind me of, however, are two different players: one is a positive comparison, the other...not so much. The first player is Wayne Chrebet -- you may remember him as the Yin to Keyshawn Johnson's Yang when he played for the Jets. Chrebet was an undrafted rookie out of Hofstra University who found a place on the Jets' roster for more than a decade. Though he was undersized and lacked elite speed and athletic ability, Chrebet's excellent hands and an innate understanding of the position resulted in the wideout being productive for many years. If he ends up in the right system, Ball could be the same type of player. Then again, Ball could end up like the other player he reminds me of: Mike Hass. You may not remember him, but Hass (6-1, 208) was a fantastic college receiver at Oregon State University. During his time with the Beavers, he set school records in receptions (220), yards (3,924) and touchdowns (20), even winning the Biletnikoff Award his senior season. However, thanks to his lack of speed and athletic ability, Hass was selected in the sixth round by New Orleans in the 2006 draft, and he was cut in September. The last I checked, he was standing on the Bears' sidelines during the Super Bowl. Right now, he's headed for NFL Europe.Here's the thing, according to their times in the 40-yard dash, Hass (4.61) is actually faster than Ball (4.7). Ball's college numbers were better, but he played against teams like Maine, James Madison and Iona, while Hass played10 Santonio Holmes black jersey
in the Pac 10 against USC and Oregon. Don't get me wrong, it's possible that he could end up being this generation's Chrebet or Ricky Proehl, but his measurables indicate otherwise. I believe Ball will have to play in the perfect system to be effective, and the Niners would not be the right fit for him. What they need is a playmaker on the outside, not a slower version of Arnaz Battle or a smaller Eric Johnson.Have a player you want to see profiled? Thoughts on a column? E-mail Thomas at tsorrell .