Darrell Hackney attended Douglass High School in the Atlanta area. In three years as the quarterback for Douglass High, Hackney passed for over 4,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. He was named all-state honorable mention in each of his final two seasons. As a senior, Hackney led his team to an 8-3 record, was named team MVP and quarterback of the year for the Atlanta area. Darrell accepted a scholarship to UAB where he sat out the 2001 season as a redshirt. Midway through the 2002 season, Hackney became the team’s starting quarterback, passing for just under 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns the second half of the season. He entered his sophomore season as the starting quarterback, passing for 1,659 yards and 9 touchdowns before missing the final five games of the season due to a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand. His junior season was a breakout year for Hackney. It was also his first full season as the team’s starting quarterback. He threw for 3,070 yards and increased his touchdown to interception ratio from just over 1-1 the previous year to over 3-1 as a junior, passing for 26 touchdowns against just 8 interceptions. Darrell Hackney had another good season as a senior. He passed for 3,180 yards with 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He will enter 2006 with a chance to be a first day pick in the 2006 NFL draft.

Darrell Hackney is a big, strong quarterback. He has a cannon for an arm which gives him the ability to make all the throws required of an NFL quarterback. He has good mobility for a player his size and can be extremely difficult for defenders to bring down. He has a good deal of experience and is an excellent leader on the field. At 5-11, Hackney lacks the ideal height for a quarterback. His weight has gone up over 240 and he needs to work to keep it down. As I mentioned has pretty good mobility for such a big guy, but he isn’t athletic enough to make a play with his feet on a regular basis. He needs to improve his ability to read defenses and learn to take what the defense gives him rather than forcing passes into coverage. Hackney needs to display good mechanics and decision making on a more consistent basis to be an effective signal caller at the professional level. Accuracy was a problem for Hackney early on in his career; however, he did improve as a senior and completed over 60% of his passes for the first time in his career at UAB. Although he did miss half of the 2003 season with a dislocated thumb, Hackney has been a tough player who has played through other minor injuries. Darrell Hackney is a very talented quarterback who is still improving; he has a chance to be a first day pick in the 2006 NFL draft.