Butler has impressive closing speed

"He was my favorite player growing up," said Butler, a rising talent expected to be picked in the first round in this weekend's NFL draft. "You watched him play both ways, watched him play baseball, and it was just watching a great athlete. You wanted to be like him."

Butler now has become one of Sanders's top understudies after working out together in Dallas earlier this year. Sanders took Butler under his wing, their workouts starting at 8:30 each morning and lasting into the afternoon.

Butler explained that Sanders reached out to him over the last year, which was flattering given the minimal interest Butler had received coming out of a charter high school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. At that time, Butler didn't have many big-time colleges knocking down his door. There were no Deion Sanders-types recruiting him to campus.

His choices were the University of Connecticut and Florida Atlantic.

UConn coach Randy Edsall naturally takes great pride in seeing how far Butler has come. That Butler is in the mix to be the first cornerback drafted - and that his prowess led Patriots coach Bill Belichick, among other NFL officials, to attend the school's Pro Day last month - is validation of what Edsall and his staff first saw back at Coral Springs Charter.

"Darius was 165 pounds and he was a quarterback, but we saw the work ethic, the character, and how academics were important to him," recalled Edsall, adding that Butler graduated from UConn in December.

That was a good foundation on which to build, and with some coaching from Edsall and his staff and added strength in the weight room, Butler began to emerge over the last two seasons, flashing his athleticism while sometimes lining up at receiver.

Because Edsall installed a pro-based defensive scheme at UConn - the same one he used under Tom Coughlin with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1995-97 - scouts and evaluators generally feel comfortable projecting how Butler will adapt to on-field life in the NFL.

Butler said that topic came up when he spoke with Belichick at UConn's Pro Day.

"Since they run the same scheme we run, I think it would be a smooth transition if I go to the Patriots," he said.

If the Patriots are interested, however, they might not have the luxury of waiting until the 23d overall pick because Butler is considered one of the draft's faster rising prospects, set to become the highest draft pick in UConn history. He joins Ohio State's Malcolm Jenkins, Illinois's Vontae Davis, and Wake Forest's Alphonso Smith as possible first-rounders at cornerback.

Elsewhere in the secondary, no safeties are expected to be picked in the first round. The run on safeties - a group headlined by Oregon's Patrick Chung, Missouri's William Moore, Western Michigan's Louis Delmas, and the Clemson duo of Michael Hamlin and Chris Clemons - is projected to begin in the second round.

Given his background in the NFL, Edsall understands why Butler has risen in the eyes of scouts and coaches.

"He's a tremendous athlete, probably one of the most athletic guys in the whole draft," he said. "For the position he plays, he has excellent feet, excellent hips and change of direction, and excellent leaping ability. He also has outstanding hands and is a guy who is a student of the game."

Butler took pre-draft visits to the Rams, Vikings, Dolphins, Jets, Bills, and Titans, which he explained were exciting because "this is something I've worked a long time for."

An added, unexpected benefit has been the pairing with Sanders.

"He knows the game well, and knows how to teach it at the same time," Butler said. "He helped me with things you see in the pros - everything from techniques, to watching film, and understanding the money and different situations off the field."

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.