Nfl draft 2003 Information Provided by cbs sportsline

Sam Aiken

Weight: 209

Position: WR

College: North Carolina

Drafted: Pick 30 of the 4th round by Buffalo
Analysis
Positives: Quick-twitch type with deceptive speed and good strength...Has a very good knowledge of the offensive game plan...Competitive enough to fight for extra yardage after the catch...Shows functional acceleration off the line...Runs crisp routes, coing in and out of his breaks sharply...Fluid in his stride...Does a nice job of tracking the ball in and makes proper body adjustments going for the pigskin in traffic...Has the natural hands needed to make all the catches...Strong runner who is very tough to bring down in isolated coverage...Makes a good effort as a blocker...Quick to spot when the quarterback is in trouble, coming back to make the underneath catch...Fearless over the middle, making the acrobatic catches seem routine...Maintains body control, balance and agility when knifing through traffic.
Negatives: Lack of sustained quickness results in him being taken down from behind too often...Does not explode coming out of his cuts, needing to gather before heading upfield...Can catch the ball away from his body, but tends to lose concentration with the defender in front of him...Appears sluggish on his initial burst and has to do a better job of using his hands to get a push off the defender to defeat the press.
Career Notes
Blossomed into one of UNC's most consistent threats as a junior...Has the ability to go across the middle, make the difficult catch and take a hit...He is also a dangerous deep threat who earned "Super Ram" status in the weight room and is a member of the strength and conditioning honor roll...Finished his career with 146 receptions for 2205 yards (15.1 avg) and 15 touchdowns...Only Leon Johnson (151, 1993-96), Corey Holliday (155, 1989-93) and Na Brown (165, 1995-98) caught more passes in Tar Heel history...His 2205 yards are topped only by Octavus Barnes (2398, 1994-97) and Holliday (2447) on the school's career-record list...His 15 scoring grabs rank behind Art Weiner (18, 1946-49) and Barnes (19) in school annals.
2002 Season

All-Atlantic Coast Conference second-team choice...Winner of the E. Carrington Smith Award (team MVP-offense) and Art Weiner Award (most outstanding receiver)...Set school season-records as he hauled in 68 passes for 990 yards (14.6 avg) and four touchdowns, topping the previous marks of 55 catches by Na Brown (in both 1997 and '98) and 970 yards by Octavus Barnes (1995)...Added 18 yards on a kickoff return and 5 yards on a pair of punt returns (2.5 avg)...Averaged 84.4 all-purpose yards per game.

Led the team with 46 catches for 789 yards (17.2 avg) and eight touchdowns...His eight scoring catches were the second-most ever by a Tar Heel (tying three others) and were the most since Marcus Wall had a school-record nine in 1994...Ranked third in the ACC in touchdown catches and was fifth in the ACC in receiving yards per game (65.8 avg)...Had 12 catches over 20 yards, including three over 65 yards...Led the team in all-purpose yards with 974 (789 on receptions, 79 on punt returns, 105 on kickoff returns)...Had at least one catch in every game and made at least four catches in seven games.

Played in every game at wide receiver and also was the Tar Heels' top kickoff return man... Third on the team with 29 receptions for 410 yards (14.1 avg) and three touchdown... Returned 18 kickoffs for 365 yards (20.3 avg) and two punts for 20 yards...Caught at least three passes in six games.

Named UNC's Co-Most Outstanding Freshman along with defensive end Julius Peppers...One of four true freshmen to play...Appeared in every game at wide receiver and returning kicks...Caught three passes for 16 yards, returned 13 kickoffs an average of 21.2 yards and 12 punts an average of 1.9 yards...His first college catch was a 6-yarder at Clemson... Also had 5-yard receptions vs. Houston and Maryland...Longest kickoff return was a 34-yarder vs. Wake Forest...Also had a 33-yard return at Maryland.

31 1/4 10 15 4.65 2.71 1.62 39 1/2 10'1" 7.22

1999 11 01 3 16 5.3 0 6 0.27 1.45

2000 11 00 29 410 14.1 3 57 2.64 37.27

2001 12 02 46 789 17.2 8 75 3.83 65.75

2002 12 12 68 990 14.6 4 77 5.67 82.50

TOTAL 46 15 146 2205 15.1 15 77 3.17 47.93

YEAR NO YARDS AVG TD LONG NO YARDS AVG TD LONG

1999 13 275 21.2 0 34 12 23 1.9 0 14

2000 18 365 20.3 0 27 2 20 10.0 0 13

2001 5 105 21.0 0 25 9 79 8.8 0 15

2002 1 18 18.0 0 18 2 5 2.5 0 4

TOTAL 37 763 20.6 0 34 25 127 5.1 0 15
RUSHING STATISTICS
YEAR NO YARDS AVG TD LONG

2000 5 34 5.7 0 12

2001 2 1 0.5 0 7

TOTAL 7 35 5.0 0 12