Heyward-Bey Injures Hamstring (Again)

It would have been nice if, after the Raiders selected wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey with the seventh-overall pick in April's draft, the talented but raw Maryland product quietly went about proving his critics wrong.

Instead, he suffered a hamstring injury two weeks after the draft (speed kills, apparently), which made it easy for detractors to point out that Michael Crabtree or Jeremy Maclin -- two receivers everybody but Al Davis had rated higher than Heyward-Bey -- might have been better choices.

Then again, Davis loves the vertical passing game, and to pull it off you need a strong-armed quarterback and a receiver who can blow past defenders. JaMarcus Russell was an obvious choice for the former, and of all the available pass catchers in the 2009 draft, Heyward-Bey made too much sense (at least from Al's perspective) for the latter.

Of course, if speedy wideouts are sidelined with tweaked hammys, Davis' plan doesn't really work. And that's exactly what happened to Heyward-Bey. Again. This afternoon he pulled up lame. Via the Oakland Tribune's Jerry McDonald:

Heyward-Bey pulled up on an out-pattern with an audible groan, clutching his right hamstring early in practice. He did not return, leaving the field with trainer Rod Martin.

Not much in the way of details, but the important part -- clutching hamstring, groaning in agony -- convey the message. Now it's a matter of if Heyward-Bey will be healthy enough for training camp.

In most other situations, a rookie wideout -- even one drafted in the top 10 -- would be given a pass if he struggled through his first NFL season. It happens all the time. The problem for Heyward-Bey is that there was so much scrutiny surrounding his selection that any misstep will be documented in horrifying detail.

Obviously, none of this is his fault. And it's important to remember that he's just a kid in his early 20s who was suddenly handed a crapload of money and thrust into this situation. There are worse fates, but it's worth keeping some perspective, too.

On the bright side, if the Raiders stumble out of the gate, people will be so busy calling for Jeff Garcia to replace Russell that everybody will have forgotten about Heyward-Bey. So there's that.