These are the industry's best news reporting websites.  Rotoworld and CBSsports are in a distant 1st/2nd in our opinion.

• Darrius Heyward-Bey Player News @ Rotoworld
• Darrius Heyward-Bey Player News @ Cbssports
• Darrius Heyward-Bey Player News @ Yahoo
• Darrius Heyward-Bey Player News @ Bleacherreport.com
• Darrius Heyward-Bey Player News @ Fanball
• Darrius Heyward-Bey Player News @ Foxsports

Darrius Heyward-Bey Profile at Pro Football Reference

Pro Football Reference is open source and a highly enriched statistic website.  The guy who runs this knows what he's doing.

Compare all WRs using FFToday.com's stat cruncher

FFToday.com's stat cruncher is the best in the biz.  It's quick and sortable and highly user-friendly.

These link to the industry's best IRs. These are the sites that Stegman goes to, in order, if/when he's obsessing about data on the status of an injury.

• Rotoworld IR (most up to date – the Cadillac of NFL injury reports)
• CBS Sports IR  (a close 2^nd)
• ESPN IR 
• Yahoo IR
• Fanball IR
• Foxsports IR
• The Huddle.com IR
• NFL.com IR  
• NFLInjury.com IR  (decent independent blog for injury data)

Heyward-Bey signed himself a five-year, $38.25 million contract right as camp started up in July.  The deal included $23.5 million in guaranteed money, while another $15.75 million is available through incentives.  The terms of the contract were not immediately available, but we'll get them to you as soon as they are:

2009 - Under Contract

2010 - Under Contract

2011 - Under Contract

2012 - Under Contract

2013 - Under Contract

2014 - Free Agent

DHB is not on Facebook or Twitter.
 

Click here to follow FFArmory on Twitter

Click here to follow FFArmory of Facebook

College Stats

Combine Results

Player Profile

Heyward-Bey is the latest chapter in the novel "Al Davis and the Chamber of Secrets" by Al Davis.  Why he drafted Heyward-Bey, who by many was considered a 2^nd round pick at best, never mind a top 10 pick, when Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin were on the board, is a mystery that might never be solved.  This is a guy that drafted a place kicker in the 1^st round for crying out loud.  That's the equivalent of Chef Emerial Lagasse starting his show off by nuking a Lean Cuisine.

Over the course of his three-year career, Heyward-Bey had four more catches, 127 more yards, and nine less touchdowns than Crabtree had... in his FRESHMAN YEAR!  Granted, Crabtree played in a system that tosses more balls than Lindsay Lohan before turning into a lesbo, but he still has a better chance to succeed in the NFL than Bey.  The point is, don't get fooled by Al Davis' antics (and if you need to be told that, it might be time to hang 'em up), because Heyward-Bey is not likely to live up to those high expectations.

His Game

Heyward-Bey had a very successful career at Maryland, despite playing in an offense that tremendously under-utilized him.  He ranks 2^nd in career receiving yards, 3^rd in receptions and tied for 3^rd in touchdown catches in Terrapins history.  He was the #1 receiver, gathering 26.16% of his teams passing yards.  He was twice named All-ACC, which is impressive considering he was double-covered all time.  The Terps didn't have another receiver with the skills to compliment Heyward-Bey, so this diminished his stats somewhat.

The most prolific part of his game is his speed.  At the Scouting Combine, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.30, which ranked first among receivers.  Even more impressive, he set a Maryland record for wide receivers by running the 40 in 4.23 his freshman season.  He was a track All-American in the 100 and 200 meters in high school and won the Maryland state title in both of those events.  Al Davis has always loved his burners - he for sure got one in Bey.  He just could have probably had him in the second round!

He also has proven his worth as a rusher.  His dynamic speed gave Maryland the chance to use him in the backfield and on end-arounds.  He was the team's 3^rd leading rusher last year, rushing for 314 yards on 25 carries and two TDs - good for an amazing 12.56 yards per carry.

2009 Fantasy Outlook

The Raiders now have three top-10 picks to build around in QB JaMarcus Russell, RB Darren McFadden, and Heyward-Bey, but all could be boom or bust.  Last year, the Raiders finished last in passing with 2,369 yards and 28^th in passing TDs with 13; not good.

Heyward-Bey will dramatically improve a receiving corps in which the leading WR was, get ready for it... Johnnie Lee Higgins (who does get some credit for being the cousin of possibly the greatest name in football, Chargers CB Quentin Jammer).  Higgins had 22 catches for 366 yards and four TDs, but the leading pass catcher on the team was actually TE Zach Miller as he had twice as many yards (778) as Higgins.  By the way, Johnnie Lee's nickname is "Stunkey Leg", and we would pay good money (about $5 bucks) for the story behind that one.

Heyward Bey's speed will make him a constant deep threat.  Most cornerbacks will give him a little cushion at the line because of it, which will make him an easy target on short passing routes.  However, he is still a very raw route runner and is going to need about two years to refine that part of his game.    

ESPN's Ron Jaworski's assessment of Bey is that the numbers don't tell the tale.  This kid is a talent.  He's raw, but with good coaching, he can be molded into a fantasy stud.  Keep expectations low this season, though.  He will get opportunities in '09 given that Oakland's top three pass-catchers in '08 were a TE (Zach Miller), a RB (McFadden), and a guy named "Stunkey Leg".  All that said, he is probably a 4^th receiver in 10-12 person leagues and a 5^th receiver in an 8-man league.   With the possibility of Javon Walker not even making the team, Heyward-Bey should be the 1^st or 2^nd option in Oakland - which really isn't all that sweet.