And that's exactly what it will be -- a chance, a gamble, a shot in the blind, a lottery ticket that comes with an expensive price tag. To assume that the N.C. State running back is a legitimate professional football prospect is to assume much too much.

McLendon, at his best, was one of the most gifted running backs in ACC history. He came with Ken Willard's size, Ted Brown's cuts and Tiki Barber's quickness.

But McLendon also was about as dependable as an airline schedule. One game, he was Bo Jackson. The next, he was Bo Peep.

With T.A., what you saw you didn't necessarily get. He might be remembered as either the best bad running back in Wolfpack history or the worst good one.

State coach Chuck Amato even waded into the McLendon enigma by saying that no back can gain yardage while he's sitting in a hot tub. At one point, McLendon was promised a ride to the locker room in a golf cart if he could get through a week of practice without suffering an injury.

Amato made light of those ongoing injuries. NFL coaches won't.

Nor will they dabble so freely in motivational psychology. At the next level, McLendon will be pampered about as much as a bug in a baby's crib. He'll have to work every day or walk the first day.

McLendon's talent isn't an issue. He has the skills, as a pure runner, to make it.

But does he have the intensity? Will he block?

He never did much of that at State. When face-to-face with an aggressive defender, he was as apt to duck as to duke it out.

And will he hold on to the ball? Play for play, McLendon committed far more turnovers than most elite college runners. Fumble too much in the NFL, and they'll see how you look as a linebacker. Or as a spectator.

Finally, can he catch the ball? Even with Philip Rivers throwing it, any swing pass to McLendon at State was an adventure. Some he would catch. Others he would fetch -- after the ball bounced off his shoulder pads.

Like so many others, I watched McLendon play for three years, and I'm still not completely certain what to make of him. At times, I saw an incredible talent. After his game at Clemson as a freshman, I thought he was a Heisman Trophy winner in the making. On his final run against North Carolina this year, I was watching a runner who, even with the outcome on the line, didn't show the maturity or determination to put the previous play behind him.

In the final analysis, what I really saw was a great talent wearing Wolfpack red but living in the world of Albemarle High School blue. Talented high school players fail every day in college. Even more college greats fail to cut it in the NFL.

In college, McLendon never seriously approached greatness on a consistent basis. Physically, he had it all. Mentally, he didn't.

Throughout his injury-plagued three seasons at N.C. State, McLendon was Mr. Could-Be. In the pros, he'd better be Mr. Can-Do, or he'll be unemployed.

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