Oakland Raiders: Darrius Heyward-Bey Is Running out of Chances

This year appears to be Darrius Heyward-Bey's last chance with the Raiders. The 2009 draft pick has woefully underperformed given his seventh-overall draft position.

A good year for DHB would do wonders for him as well as the Raiders. Their receiving corps is very young, but very talented. Jacoby Ford, Chaz Schilens and Louis Murphy are all capable, and if DHB can prove his talent the Raiders are in for a good year.

Problem is, no one ever knows what to expect from Heyward-Bey.

In his two seasons, Bey only has 35 catches and 460 yards receiving. For comparison, another "bust," Michael Crabtree, has threefold more receptions and thrice as many yards.

DHB hasn't yet lived up to his "hype."

I'll be the first to admit that Bey was drafted too early and taken purely on athleticism over football skills. It's time for DHB to earn his contract—or he needs to be cut.

The Raiders were right to send Russell out and DHB could be right behind him.

Luckily, the Raiders have drafted slightly better over the past two seasons to make up for the numerous combine wonders that have so fixated Al Davis in the past.

DHB probably won't be an All-Pro or Pro-Bowl receiver, but if he can establish himself as a possession receiver who can go deep on occasion, he could have value to the Raiders.

DHB has blazing speed, but he still has issues breaking coverage and plainly just catching the ball. Too many times in the past has the ball been laid into his waiting hands only to be dropped with the slightest touch or even without any contact whatsoever.

I think a realistic goal this season would be around 40 catches with 600 receiving yards. That would be a tremendous boost to the Raiders and their passing offense. Anything significantly less and Heyward-Bey needs to be shown the door.

The Raiders are potentially on the brink of something big this season and an upstanding performance by DHB could put the Silver and Black over the top.

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