Darrius Heyward-Bey looks for redemption in Indianapolis

Christopher Hanewinckel

Colts fans are hoping that Darrius Heyward-Bey does more of this in Indianapolis.

In the NFL, redemption stories are not uncommon. If you have the talent, you’ll have your chance to shine, and for Darrius Heyward-Bey, finding himself as a professional football player might just be as simple as a change of scenery.

Darrius Heyward-Bey (or DHB), the Oakland Raiders’ seventh overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft, will be suiting up for the Colts in 2013. Unsurprisingly, there are mixed feelings over Colts general manager Ryan Grigson’s latest, and tenth, free agent acquisition.

In Oakland, DHB was a major disappointment. It’s easy to blame the embarrassing quarterback play the Raiders have experienced since what seems like forever, and possibly the expectations attached to a guy that was brought into a franchise on the verge of a total meltdown.

I mean did Oakland fans really expect him to fly with all of the dysfunction in Oakland? Maybe not, but DHB’s professional career was set up for failure well before it even began.


However, it’s evident that DHB has fundamental issues that go well beyond the constraints of the quarterback play that he was forced to deal with over the last four years. His hands have been a problem from the very beginning of his mostly mediocre career, along with his inability to get separation (finding space to put between him and the defender covering him) consistently. For a speedster like DHB, you’d think this would be the one area he would find a lot of success, but that hasn’t been the case.

Compared to his Oakland offensive counterparts Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford, who have also dealt with the same dreadful quarterback conditions, DHB has enjoyed minimal success as a target for the deep ball.

He’s not exactly a player to rave about, but not one to moan and groan about, either. This is a low-risk, high-reward signing that could, as Grigson suggests, pay huge dividends for the development of both Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and Heyward-Bey.

And to DHB’s credit, he’s cleaned up his butterfingers, greatly, over the last two years.

Christopher Hanewinckel

Even with all of the lows in Oakland, Darrius Heyward-Bey was able
to enjoy some success with his teammates.

According to the statistical database Pro Football Focus, his average drops hit a career-low in 2011 at 8.5%, but spiked up to 12.8% in 2012. Those percentages are much, much better than the 21.2% and whopping 35.7% he posted in 2010 and in his rookie year, but there also among the highest for players at his position. In other words, he needs to get a lot better or the redemption story will end up being a simple continuation of a career that was, well, incredibly underwhelming.

His 4.3 speed absolutely screams deep threat, and if he can develop as an intermediate option in Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton’s West Coast offense (majority of short-intermediate passes, power running game and emphasis on tight ends), he could ultimately spread his wings as the deep threat he was advertised to be coming out of college.

For the Colts fans that were disappointed in the signing, I ask them to give it a shot. They didn’t get superstar New York Giants wide out Victor Cruz (or something even close), but it’s apparent that Grigson isn’t worried about buying popular names. Most of Colts nation was foaming at the chance to have Cruz in a different shade of blue in 2013, but his name and exceptional talent would have come with a hefty price tag.

Now, with the addition of DHB, the Colts can see if they can awaken some of his obvious physical talent, while also looking to the draft with the mandatory first rounder they would have used to sign Cruz.

Some signings in the NFL are just solid, and if you ask me, this is another solid signing by Grigson.

The real story, however, is whether DHB will be able to capture the superstar magic that evaded him in Oakland.

Prove the pundits wrong, DHB.