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The NFL Draft is far from perfect. When it comes down to it, careers aren't made tomorrow's first day of the draft, nor the next or the next.
They're made in training camp, when those players show their teams that throwing the bank at them based on studying long hours film was a good decision.
Lots of talent goes unnoticed, and for all we've talked about Arizona Wildcats Nick Foles, Juron Criner and even Trevin Wade as draft talents, down the road it might be David Douglas who finds himself heartily contributing to an NFL team.
Sports Illustrated writer Don Banks has Douglas on a shortlist of players that he calls the Wes Welker Watch-list, which is "a compilation of 10 little-known prospects who have a shot to make it in the league even if they don't get drafted, or wind up being selected in the late rounds."
And Douglas is only one of two wide receivers, the only one who fits the Welker profile of being short, white and unheralded.
Like Welker, a former Texas Tech wideout, Douglas played in an offense spawned from the ideals of Mike Leach. Like Welker, Douglas will probably go undrafted.
At 6-foot-1, 207 pounds, Douglas actually has more size than Welker, and Foles, one of Douglas' best friends, has said he's unassumingly one of the better athletes on the Arizona football team.
Here are Banks' thoughts on Douglas:
The Wildcats' No. 2 receiver behind the more highly regarded Juron Criner, Douglas didn't have gaudy stats as a senior (65 catches for 666 yards and four touchdowns), but he flashed real potential this spring, running in the 4.4s with a 39-inch vertical leap. He has excellent short-burst quickness and the ability to find the gaps in a defense, and at 6-1, 207 pounds he has the necessary size to project to the NFL.
Douglas will be either a late-round pick or a priority collegiate free agent, and scouts have grown more impressed with his soft hands, tight route running and football instincts as the spring has worn on. The Lions and Bills are two of the teams thought to be interested in his market.