OXNARD, Calif. - Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones wasn't drawing a direct comparison between then-rookie Isaiah Stanback and his most dangerous, accomplished wide receiver.
But the similarities in size, speed and separation were so pronounced that Jones couldn't help but think of some guy named Owens.
"He had or three (plays) which you had to say, 'Is that Terrell? Who is that?'" Jones said when he watched Stanback last year in practice.
Unfortunately for Stanback, injuries and a complex position change prevented the former University of Washington quarterback from making a successful adjustment to receiver. His rookie grade wasn't failing, more like incomplete.
Last summer, Stanback didn't make his practice debut until Aug. 11 after spending the Cowboys' entire training camp in San Antonio rehabbing his surgically-repaired foot, an injury he suffered as a college senior, and resting painful shin splints that sprouted once he started running again.
"You can learn to certain point," said Stanback, who even received after-practice coaching from Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin during the first week here at training camp. "But until you go out there and do it physically yourself it's not the same."
Stanback is getting no shorts of reps in his second training camp, mostly with the second- and third-teams behind the Cowboys' more seasoned receivers. At 6-2, 208 pounds, he's big enough to shed cornerbacks' jams but fast enough to separate downfield.
He also showed off his hands in Saturday's morning practice, reaching back with one arm to snatch away a touchdown pass from cornerback Anthony Henry.
"He's got that stuff," Jones said of his second-year receiver, who's so athletically gifted the Baltimore Orioles drafted him in 2006 despite the fact he hadn't played baseball since high school.
The Cowboys are unabashedly wowed by Stanback's natural ability, but it's unrealistic to suggest the soon-to-be 24-year-old can develop into an elite receiver in one full off-season. Stanback last played receiver for a full season five years ago as a college freshman. He only lined up on offense in one game last year, the Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day win over the Jets.
His job is to naturalize the mental part of the position - routes, timing, in-play adjustments to zone and man schemes. Make everything instinctive, and his natural ability will take over.
So far, Stanback appears headed in that direction.
"Huge strides. Huge," Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman said emphatically. "Just understanding the route running, playing faster, understanding what to do and how to do it. He's ahead of where I thought he would be."
Said Jones: "What you've got to look forward to in him is when that comes second nature," Jones said. "Then there's another part of him that we saw parts of last fall that just absolutely goes out there and just makes some phenomenal athletic plays, catches."
The Cowboys had a successful blueprint for developing college quarterbacks when they drafted Stanback. Projected starter Patrick Crayton made a similar but more subtle quarterback-to-receiver switch as a rookie in 2004 after playing receiver his first three years at Northwestern Oklahoma State, but not his senior season.
"Crayton's success really helped me make my mind up regarding what we're doing with Stanback because we saw that successfully done," Jones said. "If you look at position conversion from college or after the NFL, the quarterback to receiver is the most successful one."
Third-year veterans Sam Hurd and Miles Austin also are competing for time behind Owens and Crayton. Both have been impressive; Hurd has shown more polish on his routes, and Austin is a 216-pound rocket who can return kickoffs.
Stanback has fielded kicks with Austin in practice, but both want to use their speed to become contributors on offense.
"I'm not really worried about being able to stretch the field. That's one of the advantages that I do have," Stanback said. "My thing is being able to get my speed up to 15, 20 yards and break down and come out of it. In my whole life I've always run track and sprinted, and playing quarterback you sprint. I've never had to stop and turn and come back a different direction.
"That's new to me. But I'm learning it."
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