Professor

http://www.contracostatimes.com/raid...nclick_check=1

excerpt:

NAPA -- Terdell Sands has started one game since entering the NFL in 2001. He was a seventh-round selection in the NFL draft that year. The Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers both gave up on him after one season.

Sands, 27, languished on the sideline under three coaches with the Raiders the past four seasons. Someone always played just well enough to keep Sands in the shadows.

Even so, finding defensive tackles who stand 6-foot-7, weigh 335 pounds and are strong enough to move offensive linemen at will is not an easy task. Hence, the Raiders made signing Sands to a contract extension their top priority in free agency this offseason.

"This guy's a freak of nature," Raiders defensive line coach Keith Millard said of Sands on Tuesday. "I've never seen a guy his size move the way he can and do some of the things he can do."

Such as stop the run and collapse the pocket. In other words, think veteran defensive tackle Ted Washington.

Coincidentally, it's Washington who contributed to the stunting of Sands' development into an every-down player. Washington occupied the middle of Oakland's line in 2004 and 2005, and he passed on the spot to promising third-year player Tommy Kelly last season.

Kelly had his shot and didn't pan out as well as expected. That made Sands all the more attractive once his contract expired after last season.

So it was that the Raiders lavished upon Sands a four-year, $17 million contract that included a $4 million signing bonus.

Put another way, he got paid like a starter.

Now the Raiders expect him to play like a starter. Sands is splitting reps with Kelly during training camp, though Sands appears to have the edge on lining up next to Warren Sapp when the Raiders play the Detroit Lions in their regular-season opener Sept. 9.

Millard doesn't mince words when asked about Sands. The gigantic player from small-time Tennessee-Chattanooga no longer is an intriguing prospect. His time is now.

"He's huge and he's as quick as 290-pounders," Millard said. "He just dominates the middle, and that's what we're counting on him to do, dominate the middle of our defense. Everything starts with him. He knows he's got a lot of pressure on him and he's been working his tail off ... trying to get better."

Sapp calls Sands "unblockable," among other things.

"When you got a big dude in the middle like that, it makes life easier for everyone else on the defense," Sapp said. "He's a monster. I feel sorry for the guards and centers that get in his way. The whole world is about to find out what this guy's about. He's for real."

Sands is just as shy off the field as he is imposing in his three-point stance. Then again, he has learned not to take anything for granted.

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