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Cleveland Browns coach Butch Davis went to the NFL Combine in early March with the idea he would search for a running back, a player he thought could be the feature back for his team, a player he might take in the first round.

He left thinking he'd get into the Ricky Williams trade talks.

That's how unimpressive the workouts were by the backs at the combine. The biggest disappointment was Boston College running back William Green. His 40 times were on the wrong side of 4.5, which had many in the league scratching their heads when they looked at his times in the 4.6 range.

How could a player that looked so fast at BC look so slow on the track?

"Those 40 times turned off a lot of teams," said one NFC personnel director.

Green had bad starts running those 40s, according to those who watched. He simply didn't look comfortable at the workout. But when he ran a couple of weeks later at a workout at BC, it didn't get much better.

Green was still clocked in the 4.6 range, although a tad under it.

Those slow times for a back can turn off scouts faster than a hotel without room service.

The Browns never were able to pull off the trade for Williams -- and despite their denials they got serious right up until the very end -- and now they must look to the draft class to try and find a running back.

T.J. Duckett has helped himself in workouts with good 40 times. (Allsport)

Players like Green, Michigan's State's T.J. Duckett and UCLA's DeShaun Foster are players the Browns will consider when they select with the 16th pick in the first round.

Trouble is, Green may not be there.

Although Green's slower-than-expected times have hurt his stock, the Dallas Cowboys are still very interested in him with the sixth overall pick. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones attended Green's personal workout, and word was he came away impressed. Dallas would like to find an eventual replacement for Emmitt Smith -- provided Texas cornerback Quentin Jammer isn't available when the Cowboys pick -- and Green may be that player.

Like Smith, Green plays quicker and faster than his 40 times. Green averaged 155.9 yards rushing during the 2001 season, but he was suspended for a game for violating team rules. It was the second time he had been suspended by BC coach Tom O'Brien for breaking a team rule. That is of some concern to the NFL personnel.

Asked about what he did, Green simply says, "I violated a team rule." He wouldn't elaborate.

Despite the suspensions, Green is not looked upon as a bad kid. After coming through what he has to get to this situation, Green may be applauded. Both of his parents reportedly died of AIDS when he was 13-14 years old. He was raised by his grandmother in a tough part of Atlantic City, N.J., while the other siblings were raised elsewhere.

Green didn't want to talk about his tough life when asked about it at the combine.

"That's something I'd rather not get into," he said. "It's not fair to my brothers and sisters to talk about."

But late last year, while preparing to face Georgia in the Music City Bowl, he did talk about it.

"It was a very tough experience," Green said. "Watching that was really hard. I'm glad I can talk about it now because it makes me feel better. We had to go our own way because there wasn't a family that could take us all in at once. But it's like my mom told me, 'Nobody ever said life was fair.'"

It's also probably not fair to drop him simply because he hasn't run that well. Green spent his college career running away from players in the Big East. He showed that he had big-play speed, enough to be an NFL success.

"You didn't see him getting caught from behind," said the NFC personnel director.

On most draft boards, Green is followed by Duckett and Foster. At 260 pounds, Duckett has been compared to Pittsburgh's Jerome Bettis. One difference: Duckett has 4.4 speed in the 40. There are some scouts, though, who don't think Duckett ran as powerfully as he's built while at Michigan State. As for Foster, he has the size (just over 6 feet and 225 pounds) to run inside, but he also has the speed to rip off long runs. The one knock on Foster is he is a fumbler.

The fourth-rated back is Miami's Clinton Portis. At 5-11, 204 pounds, he's a little smaller than the other three, but he ran a 4.4 time at the Miami Pro Day, which was faster than most scouts thought he'd run.

Portis is shifty in-line runner whose best attributes are he makes the tackler miss. Getting a good hit on Portis is tough.

"All four of those guys have the ability to be 1,000-yard rushers," one AFC personnel director said. "And one of them may be a future star. But all of them have their share of negatives, too."

That's why Davis tried at the 11th hour to jump back into the Williams trade talks. In the end, though, his attempt to trade his first-round pick for Williams was not enough. The Saints traded the former Heisman Trophy winner to the Dolphins for a first and a conditional third-round choice next year that could end up being a first-round choice if Williams gains 1,500 yards.

Davis is left waiting to see if he can find his feature back among this year's college crop.

If he does take a back, he may be glad he didn't make that trade after all.

Top five running backs

1. William Green, Boston College: He may not be the fastest guy when it comes to the stopwatch, but he's plenty fast on the field. He should be the first back picked.
2. T.J. Duckett, Michigan State: His clocking of under 4.5 in the 40 at his private workout has his stock rising. At 260 pounds, his speed is much better than thought.
3. DeShaun Foster, UCLA: Foster has speed and is big enough, but there are some concerns about his fumbling. He also didn't play the second half of last season for an NCAA rules violation. But he's good enough to be a 1,200-yard rusher.
4. Clinton Portis, Miami: He's another player who is faster than most scouts thought. Portis isn't a powerful back, but he has that ability to find the holes. Somebody will steal him in the second round.
5. Luke Staley, BYU: He is coming off a broken leg, but he showed enough last season that he can be a solid NFL back. Has good size and speed and played in a pro-style offense at BYU.

Breakdown

Rising: Verron Hayes, Georgia. Was a fullback in college, but the scouts think he has the speed to move to running back in the NFL. Is he the next Georgia back to be a factor in the NFL?

Falling: Joe Burns, Georgia Tech. A productive college runner, Burns ran 40 times close to five seconds at the combine. That's a big turnoff to the scouts.

Sleeper: Ken Simonton, Oregon State. The 5-7 Simonton wasn't invited to the combine, but he put up some big numbers in the Pac-10. He deserves to get a look, especially because he has decent speed and was tough enough to run inside in college.

Best fullback: Najeh Davenport, Miami. He is a bit of a tweener, but some teams think he's the ideal fullback. He can run, catch and block. How do you think Portis got all those yards?

Fastest: Texas Tech's Ricky Williams. The "other" Ricky Williams was timed at 4.43 at the combine. He does have some medical concerns because he blew out his knee two years ago.

Most powerful: Joe Hall, Kansas State. At 277 pounds, Hall is a guard playing running back. Too bad his 40 times were in the 5.0 range. He might want to work in a salad now and then.

Best feet: Portis has those feet that make you wonder how he does it.

Best receiver: Ray Robinson, North Carolina State. When he caught balls, he made it look easy.