<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>ENGLEWOOD – Over the years, having seen players come and players go, Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith has gleaned his description of NFL rookies.</p> "They just don't know what they don't know.''</p> And other than quarterback there may be no other position where the school of hard knocks leaves more bruises to ego and confidence than at wide receiver.</p> "I don't know why, but it does,'' Broncos wide receiver Brandon Stokley said. "I think the difference of what you could do in college to play and what you have to do in the NFL might be more than at others spots.</p> "Because most of the things you did at receiver in college just won't work anymore.''</p> So much so that of the six wide receivers taken in the first round of this past April's draft, the Chiefs' Dwayne Bowe is the only one with more than 20 receptions and a legitimate shot at a 1,000-yard season at the halfway point.</p> The Broncos will get their own first-hand look at the 6-foot-2, 221-pounder Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium as Bowe has consistently lined up with the Kansas City starters. Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said the team wanted Bowe's skills in the lineup badly enough to have even made some offensive concessions to do it.</p> "I anticipated (the struggles) when we drafted him and we simplified some things so he could line up and play,'' Edwards said. "Him and (second-year receiver Jeff) Webb . . . We simplified some things so these guys could play.''</p> Still, the adjustment is annually difficult, sweeping up every class of receivers which have so many expectations in tow. Many general managers and former general managers around the league, including former Packers GM Ron Wolf and former Titans GM Floyd Reese, have said they believe it makes drafting a wide receiver in the first round one of the most difficult positions to hit.</p> Wolf has repeatedly gone as far as to say more mistakes are made on receivers in the draft's opening round than at any other position. An issue that is often tougher to deal with because often the receivers have been chosen early in the draft because offenses have instant impact in mind.</p> "I just think (it's) all the coverages that they see at the pro level,'' said Edwards, a former long-time defensive back and defensive backs coach in the league. "Obviously the guys that are defending them are a little bit better. In college there aren't a lot of great corners, that's why they're so hard to draft. You don't find a lot of great corners in college football.</p> "And (the receivers) don't know all the tricks of the trade . . . Just a matter of their disposition when they play. Right away if you do some things to him, is he going to react? Can you get out of his game? That's what you always think about can I get this guy out of his game? He starts thinking more about me than running his routes.''</p> That's all happened enough over the years that if Bowe – with 499 yards receiving at the halfway mark – picks up his production only slightly over the season's second half he would be just the fourth wide receiver in just over a quarter century to have been a first-round pick and finish his rookie season with at least 1,000 yards.</p> Since missing some of training camp because of a contract holdout, Bowe has gone on to start seven games for the Chiefs. And Green Bay with aggressive, physical cornerbacks – Charles Woodson and Al Harris – has been the only team to hold him without a catch this season.</p> "He's played fairly well, we really like him,'' Edwards said. " . . . The game's not too big for him.''</p> Bowe currently has more catches (27) than the two receivers selected in front of him last April combined. Calvin Johnson, selected by the Lions at No. 2 overall, has 18 receptions while Ted Ginn Jr., selected at No. 9 by the Dolphins, has seven receptions.</p> One of the first-round receivers – Robert Meachem – has yet to play this season for the Saints. He has been a game-day inactive eight times after having arthroscopic knee surgery after the draft.</p> Overall, most personnel executives believe the biggest adjustment for the rookie pass catchers is how they are treated by opposing defensive backs. In college the top-flight receivers are stars, most cornerbacks can't run with them, so the defensive back plays well off, giving up plenty of ground even before the snap.</p> Suddenly those receivers come to the NFL and find cornerbacks sometimes bigger, stronger and faster than they are, who are also willing to play right up in their faces as they mix in other techniques as well.</p> "And the tricks of the trade those young receivers face would be preparation during the week by those corners, those corners' understanding of the offense they're facing, what kind of routes they'll see,'' said Bob Slowik, Broncos defensive coordinator who coaches the team's defensive backs. "I think the receivers coming in have a more difficult time with the different coverages and those coverages change play to play, not game to game or half to half. It's just so many things they haven't seen in college.</p> "A lot of times you line up in college and feel like you have the advantage,'' Stokley said. "Then you get in the NFL, you go up against guys who have played the game 10, 11 years. And without a doubt it can definitely rattle you, get in your head. You have to deal with it.''</p> The first round go 'round</p> Wide receivers taken in the first round of the draft traditionally have a tough transition in their rookie years. This year's class is no different.</p> Player Team Pick overall Catches Yards TDs</p> Calvin Johnson Lions 2 18 320 2</p> Ted Ginn Jr. Dolphins 9 7 141 1</p> Dwayne Bowe Chiefs 23 29 499 3</p> Robert Meachem Saints 27 Been inactive for all games</p> Craig Davis Chargers 30 9 84 1</p> Anthony Gonzalez Colts 32 15 207 0</div></p> Source: Rocky Mountain News</p>
