But there in black and white, in the synopsis section of one NFC team's 2000 predraft scouting report on University of Arizona wideout Dennis Northcutt, are these words: A touchdown waiting to happen. A little like Jermaine Lewis a few years ago, only a lot better as a receiver.

Plaxico Burress will be counted on by the Steelers to step it up a notch this season.(AP)

One year later, having selected Northcutt with the top pick in the second round of the 2000 draft, and invested $1.839 million in the wideout's signing bonus and first-year base salary, Cleveland Browns officials need to find out if that pithy assessment of his talents was correct or cautionary.

The team, after all, is still waiting for Northcutt's first touchdown to happen. And he has been about as productive on the field as, well, Jerry Lewis.

Which was hardly what the Browns personnel department expected when it made Northcutt the 32nd overall prospect selected 12 months ago.

In his rookie season, Northcutt appeared in 15 games, started eight, caught 39 passes for 422 yards and failed to author a single play of 40-plus yards. He returned 27 punts for an average of 10.7 yards, but his longest runback was just 30. Often absent from his play was the kind of electrifying quickness and greased-pig elusiveness that skyrocketed Northcutt up draft boards all over the league in the month before the 2000 draft.

What the Browns scouts and coaches saw in assessing Northcutt as a prospect was a do-it-all weapon who averaged 14.8 yards per touch in college. Unfortunately, what they got in 2000 was a youngster who didn't play up to his stopwatch speed.

But as the Browns come off the first minicamp under new coach Butch Davis, and speak of the dramatic improvement they feel confident will result under his stewardship, Northcutt is still a key figure in the franchise's offensive plans.

And why not?

If teams capriciously cast onto the NFL scrap heap every player who failed to live up to his press clippings as a rookie, the league would be more concerned with buying landfills and not clearing real estate for new stadiums. For reasons practical, financial and egotistical, franchises regularly afford young players a second chance at redemption, and most of them respond positively.

Northcutt is just one of many members of the 2000 draft class, including several of his Cleveland teammates, who should certainly benefit from a second-year jolt, and not the dreaded "sophomore jinx," during the '01 season. We're not singling him out for criticism, just noting he's an example of a splendidly talented player who should, just by natural progression, step it up a notch in 2001.

No longer beset by rookie woes, having moved beyond the paralysis of analysis that grips many first-year players and forces them to too often think rather than react, Northcutt is typical of a group of second-year veterans prepared to make bigger contributions this season.

There is a time-honored NFL axiom that holds that a player experiences his most meaningful leap forward between his first and second seasons, and history is replete with examples, coaches like to emphasize. In offseason workouts and minicamp, Northcutt acknowledged recently, he has felt like a more mature player.

"It makes a difference," Northcutt said, "when you know what to expect. You come in as a rookie and you might think you know what it's all about. And then the first time you go to the afterburners thinking that you're going to run by that (cornerback) the same way you did in college, and you turn and he's with you step for step, it hits you. 'Damn, everybody in this league can run.' You need to get by with more than just the physical, but lots of guys waste their entire rookie year coming to that conclusion."

Perhaps no team will benefit as much from the second-year syndrome as Cleveland, a franchise whose roster is dappled with sophomores of great promise, players whose increased maturity will help drive improvement from within. Besides Northcutt, there is fellow wideout JaJuan Dawson, tailback Travis Prentice and even Courtney Brown, the first overall selection in the 2000 draft.

Brown displayed flashes of brilliance in 2000 but finished with only 4½ sacks, a number that should increase if he moves from the left to the right side. Dawson was a pleasant surprise but saw his season truncated by an injury and should build on his brief rookie success. Prentice might have no choice but to ratchet things up if Cleveland doesn't sign a veteran tailback.

At the annual league meetings last month, Davis agreed the Browns have a number of young vets who should take a giant step forward and said the biggest improvement on the team has to come from players already on the roster. Virtually every NFL coach feels the same way, agrees that his team has a core group of youngsters who must mature rapidly. Here's a look at some of the second-year veterans being counted on to play much larger roles in 2001:

• The linebacker tandem of Rob Morris and Marcus Washington figure to be a major part of the defensive refurbishing Indianapolis Colts officials have undertaken. Washington certainly will replace the departed Cornelius Bennett as the strongside starter. Former first-round pick Morris, who missed much of training camp in a holdout and then sustained a quadriceps tendon injury that prematurely ended his rookie year, could be the inside, physical plugger the team's small defense sorely needs.
• Arizona first-round choice Thomas Jones was regarded by many scouts as the premier tailback prospect a year ago, but he struggled to gain his timing, rushed for just 373 yards and a paltry 3.3-yard average. He will go to camp behind the improving Michael Pittman on the depth chart but with a chance to unseat the incumbent.
• Tampa Bay got a bargain in offensive guard Cosey Coleman last year and now the Bucs' second-round steal should turn into a starter, especially with the exit of Frank Middleton in free agency earlier this week. The former Tennessee standout is an in-line power blocker and he is being counted on to step into the hole at right guard.
• As the 2000 season wore on, the playing time increased for New York Giants second-round defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin, and the coaches love the former Alabama star. The exit of Christian Peter last weekend in free agency assures Griffin will inherit a starting spot he likely would have won anyway. One of the quickest 300-pounders in the league, Griffin is even used to drop off in some pass coverage schemes.
• The release of seven-year veteran wide receiver Charles Johnson earlier this week will nudge reed-thin Todd Pinkston into the Philadelphia Eagles projected starting lineup. Despite his speed and ability to get open on double moves, Pinkston caught only 18 passes in his rookie season.
• Even with the selection of first-round tailback Michael Bennett in the first round of the 2001 draft last weekend, Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green has penciled in 2000 fourth-rounder Doug Chapman as the guy who gets first shot at the vacancy created by Robert Smith's untimely retirement. The former Marshall star didn't log a single carry a year ago, but given his propensity for turning backups into productive starters, no one is going to question Green's sagacity yet.
• Poor route-running, an injured wrist and a dubious temperament limited Pittsburgh first-round wide receiver Plaxico Burress to 22 catches and zero touchdowns in 2000. Word is that Burress has worked hard to rehabilitate both his wrist and his 'tude during the offseason. The Pittsburgh coaching staff is far from ready to label him a bust and still believes he will be a playmaker.
• Dallas cornerback Kareem Larrimore started four games in 2000, then lost his job when veteran and late camp roster addition Phillippi Sparks worked himself into playing shape. Sparks again is talking about retirement, although he seems to be posturing more for a raise, but even if he sticks around, Larrimore probably will take his spot. The former West Texas A&M corner has good size and closing ability.
• Rookie coach Gregg Williams wants more speed in his Buffalo Bills defense, and free safety Travares Tillman could provide that element plus some blitzing ability. Tillman started the final four games of the regular season in place of the injured Keion Carpenter a year ago. It won't be an upset if Carpenter doesn't get his job back.
• Although it appears tailback Ricky Watters will be back with the Seattle Seahawks for one more season, coach Mike Holmgren definitely wants to begin phasing in 2000 first-round choice Shaun Alexander more this year. The former Alabama star averaged 4.9 yards in a backup role in 2000, and is a future 1,000-yard rusher. It now seems just a question of when the future begins.