Can he play football? That is the one question that all 32 NFL head coaches, general managers, and team owners will be asking from now until the end of training camp.

Here are a few more…

* Can the guy sell a double-move to Champ Bailey?

* Can he keep Julius Peppers off our quarterback?

* Does he know where his second look and check down are going to be?

* Is he going to hesitate in the hole because he sees Ray Lewis, Jeremiah Trotter or Joey Porter foaming at the mouth in the second level.

Successful evaluators of NFL talent will ask questions similar to these in the hours, days and weeks leading to the 53-man roster cut deadline.

Searching for freakishly good athletes is perfectly fine, but you'd better make sure they know to play the game. For the sake of our beloved football, please put down the stopwatches and measuring tapes. Who cares how he looks in his spandex leotard.

You will see draft stock soar or plummet because a defensive back runs his 40 one-tenth of a second faster or slower than what was expected. Maybe his legs were tight, maybe the kid was nervous, but no, we're going to pass on the kid with the first-round competitiveness, terrific understanding of the game, quick, agile feet and Deion-like ball-skills because you simply can't play cornerback or wide receiver and run a 4.5.

Rubbish!

T.O. ran a 4.58 and a 4.62 at the combine in 1996. He is now, in most football minds, despite the fact he acts like an eight-year old, regarded as one of the top three receivers in the NFL. Can he play football? Umm, turns out, yes, he can.

Coaches, GM’s, Directors of PP, please stop giving yourselves excuses on draft day. Go ahead and continually skip over a guy that will make an impact on any NFL team RIGHT NOW.

It has been said before, but I can't refrain, what in the hell were the Texans and former GM Charlie Casserlly thinking? Reggie Bush is the greatest athlete football has seen in decades. His negative media attention in the weeks leading up to the draft cost him No. 1 pick money, for which he is apparently still haggling the Saints over.

That negative light on Reggie was all it took for the Texans to, in their minds, justifiably pass on him with the first overall pick. Look at his teammate at USC, LenDale White. He fell from a top five pick to the salivating Tennessee Titans in the second round because of... no, not legal problems, not NCAA infractions, not character concerns, but because he had no recorded 40 time. Wow.

Can he play football? (Go see who holds USC record for career rushing touchdowns for answer). Umm, yeah, he's pretty good too. Don't think so? Ask Busch why he never carried the ball more than 200 times in any of his three seasons playing with White and the Trojans.

Football is not played on a track or on a 94-foot hard-court. What is lost in all the body-watching is the fact that football requires more than just pure, raw athleticism.

What was that ingenious cliché that John Madden spouted off at random in last year's EA Sports football simulation? Something about "90 percent of the game is half mental." Typical Madden quote, spoken with an odd likeness to Don Vito. But friends, with that jewel, he actually provides some insightful football analysis.

These former college standouts turned NFL rookies saw their one time first-round stock slide into the second, third, and fourth round by draft day:

1. LenDale White, RB, Tennessee Titans
2. Jimmy Williams, CB, Atlanta Falcons
3. Daryl Tapp, DE, Seattle Seahawks
4. Leonard Pope, TE, Arizona Cardinals
5. Gerris Wilkinson, LB, New York Giants
6. Ko Simpson, S, Buffalo Bills
7. Max Jean-Gillis, OG, Philadelphia Eagles
8. Darnell Bing, S, Oakland Raiders
9. Gabe Watson, NT, Arizona Cardinals
10. Elvis Dumerville, DE/OLB, Denver Broncos

These guys, despite their respective "knocks," could be on my team. What do they have in common? You guessed it.