Illinois wide receiver Arrelious Benn, who many mock drafts suggest could be a potential first-round pick for the Ravens, didn't have particularly impressive college stats. His final year at Illinois, his junior year, he had just 38 catches for 490 yards and two touchdowns. But almost no one blames those subpar numbers on Benn, who was one of the Fighting Illini's few bright spots in a 3-9 season. It made it an easy decision to leave school after his junior year.
"If I would have stayed, I would have been playing for my third offensive coordinator in three years," Benn said. "I figured if I was going to learn a new offense, it might as well be at the next level. ... Numbers don't tell everything. A guy can have [great] numbers, but he's not a receiver because he might have been in an offense where they just give him the ball."
Benn said he's seen and heard about projections that he would be a good fit with the Ravens, who plan to formally interview him Saturday. Benn grew up in Washington and went to the same D.C. high school (Dunbar) that produced Vernon Davis and Vontae Davis, both of whom are now in the NFL.
"Playing close to home [with the Ravens] would be great, a dream come true," Benn said. "But really, I'll play for any team."
His biggest strength as a wide receiver?
"Just my physical size, being the size that I am, and being able to do the things a little guy in my position can do," Benn said. "I have some speed, but I've always been a bigger, thicker guy."
That might make Benn specifically appealing to the Ravens, considering they've drafted two wide receivers in the first round in the past decade (Travis Taylor and Mark Clayton) whose strengths were seen as speed and quickness, not size.
"I think I have an advantage going up for a ball because of my size," said Benn, who is 6-foot-1 1/2 and 219 pounds.
Benn hasn't run the 40-yard dash yet at the combine, a test that could be extremely key for him if he wants to get picked in the first round. Some scouts have questions about his ability to separate.
"If I hit it the way I'm supposed to, I'll run fast," Benn said. "That's all I'll say."
What would a team be getting if it drafted him?
"Someone who is going to put on a hard hat when it's time to go to work," Benn said. "Most of all, a guy who has great character off the field and someone who is going to take the game seriously, respect it, and have great impact on the field."