Dwayne Jarrett

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Dwayne Jarrett is a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. Dwayne Jarrett was drafted in the 2nd round (45th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers (official site).

Dwayne Jarrett lining up at wide receiver is unfair to every defensive back in the Pac-10. If Mike Williams hadn’t recently made Trojan fans immune to spectacular performances and amazing numbers from the wide receiver position, Dwayne Jarrett would have a building on campus named after him.

June is a month to dream if you are a bride, a kid just out of school or an NFL rookie. The Carolina Panthers haven't lost a single game yet in 2007, and Dwayne Jarrett has switched his uniform number to 80.

That switch -- Jarrett was originally assigned No. 82 -- might not seem significant until you understand Jarrett's reasoning. His idol as a youth was NFL legend Jerry Rice, who also wore 80 in San Francisco.

Rice and Jarrett have at least one thing in common -- average speed. One reason Jarrett lasted until the second round of the NFL draft was the fact he only runs a 40-yard dash in the 4.6-second range. Jarrett takes solace in knowing Rice was never the fastest player on an NFL field, either.

Said Jarrett after a Panthers' workout this week: "The greatest receiver in the world was Jerry Rice, and he ran around a 4.6. I'm not saying I'm Jerry Rice. But your positioning and the way you run your routes -- that all counts, too. I know a lot of fast guys who can't get open. If you're a football player, you're a football player."

Dwayne Jarrett
Number: 80
Position: Wide Reciever
Born: September 11, 1986
Birthplace: New Brunswick,  NJ
Highschool: New Brunswick  HS
Height: 6 foot 5	Weight: 210 pounds
Age: 20	Team: Panthers

That was a mouthful for Jarrett, who looks a lot like Keyshawn Johnson but sounds nothing like him.

"Quiet guy," Panther safety Mike Minter said of Jarrett. "Might be a little quicker than Keyshawn. He's one of those players who will look better in pads than he does right now in shorts."

Jarrett will be compared to Keyshawn all season. "I think we are similar in how big we are and the way we use our bodies to go get the ball," Jarrett said.

Both men set records at Southern Cal. Both are in the 6-4, 220-pound range. Keyshawn praised Jarrett lavishly on ESPN when the Panthers drafted the rookie with the 45th overall pick, not realizing that Jarrett's pick helped spell his doom in Carolina. (I still don't agree with that decision, but that's another story).

"I wanted to work with Keyshawn," Jarrett said, "but the organization did what it thought it had to do."

Simply, the Panthers decided to go with the youngsters at wide receiver. Steve Smith and Drew Carter are running with the first team at the moment at wideout, with Jarrett in the mix for the No. 3 role. Jarrett might surpass Carter with a great training camp, although the guess here is that Carter starts the Panthers' opener Sept. 9 in St. Louis.

Jarrett's most notable number from college was his 41 touchdowns. That set a Pac-10 record, even though Jarrett left school a year early.

You don't score 41 times by accident. Jarrett's body control -- which he considers his biggest strength -- allowed him to often out-maneuver a smaller cornerback in the end zone. Besides learning the Panthers offense, he also needs to work on fighting off the jam at the line of scrimmage and achieving separation.

Jarrett said he would have liked to have been a first-round pick, but was OK with the result.

"It's not where you start, it's where you finish," he said. "I'm here, and I'm going to do what I have to do."

Jarrett Stats

4.6

speed in 40-yard dash, which makes it difficult for him to gain separation against a fast cornerback.

7

Wide receivers taken before Jarrett in the 2007 NFL draft.

41

Touchdowns in three years at Southern Cal.

80

Jarrett's NFL uniform number; he was originally assigned 82.

216

Receptions at Southern Cal (school's all-time leader, surpassing the Panthers' Keary Colbert).

View Dwayne Jarrett's offical link on the Panthers site.