Opening eyes

Teams would be wise to get to know these draft sleepers

It's hard to project where Cal's LaShaun Ward might go in this weekend's NFL Draft. Because it's hard to project where he'll wind up on the field once he gets to the NFL. It could be receiver. It could be cornerback. To start off with, it almost assuredly will be as a return man.

"Teams can pretty much put me anywhere and they have a weapon," said Ward, who falls into that most time-tested of all draft categories, the sleeper pick. "I think a lot of teams have recognized my abilities and the things I'm capable of doing. I can do a lot of different things for a team, and play a lot of positions. I have enough size and speed and strength. You're getting an all-around athlete with me. I can do so many things."

Ward's resume is as varied as any 2003 draft prospect. A standout quarterback at Pasadena's John Muir High, he played cornerback his first two seasons at Cal before switching to receiver/return man as a junior. He was one of Cal quarterback Kyle Boller's favorite targets in 2002, and benefited this spring from so many teams watching tape of Boller's rise to first-round status.

"I don't think it was hard to find me, because they definitely had to watch me when they watched him," Ward said. "He was throwing me the ball and I was scoring the touchdowns."

Ward led Cal with nine receiving touchdowns -- on just 39 catches for 709 yards -- and also threw a 14-yard scoring strike to Boller. Combined with his 94-yard kickoff return touchdown, and his team-leading 1,553 all-purpose yards, Ward played his way onto the radar screens of several NFL teams.

Despite not being invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Ward was flown in for pre-draft visits with Indianapolis, Oakland and Seattle. That's rare for a player who didn't have the Combine seal already stamped on him, and far from an everyday occurrence for a pick projected to last until rounds five through seven.

Ward was known to drop some passes as a receiver, and that weakness could lead an NFL team to move him back to cornerback. But so far, teams seem to be split on whether his future is on offense or defense. No matter where he ends up, scouts are enamored of his 4.4 speed, 39-inch vertical leap, and 6-foot-0, 200-pound frame.

The team that drafts Ward likely will use him immediately as a return man, and then school him at either receiver or cornerback in a practice setting. With his excellent size and speed ratio, and his gift for finding the end zone -- he scored 14 touchdowns in his two seasons as a receiver -- Ward believes he's more suited to offense. But in two seasons as a cornerback, Ward also showed promise with three interceptions, eight passes defensed and 44 tackles.

"I've played offense my whole life," Ward said. "I think I'm geared toward offense. I understand the offensive tendencies and how to execute plays and score points. Playing receiver, I can score and make an impact. Playing defense, if you do what you're supposed to do at corner, no one throws at you. It gets kind of boring."

The Raiders, the team that Ward grew up watching and rooting for in Southern California, would be Ward's dream destination. But Oakland and Indianapolis both showed strong interest in him in the pre-draft interview process. Ward doesn't really care about the where and when of this weekend, as much as he does just getting an opportunity.

"At first I was disappointed about not getting invited to the Combine," he said. "I heard they invited about 360 guys and only 120 or so of them worked out. I would have been the first guy in line to work out. But I knew even if I wasn't there, I'd have my time. And I tested better than some of the guys who did go.

"Whether I get drafted in the fifth round or the seventh round, after all the guys who went before me, I know I'll end up shining in the end. That's just how I feel. That's how I've always felt."

Here are several other notable names to know in the sleeper-pick category: