I’d have to go with 2003 and 2007 as our best years, but overall, it’s pretty mediocre.

We’ve had a couple of good picks (Nnamdi, Miller, Fargas) , and a ton of awful ones (Gallery, Huff, Walter, etc etc etc). We don’t always screw up every pick, but the talent on our draft classes is much lower than the talent most other teams get from their drafts. I’d give them maybe a 4/10 overall grade, since that seems to be about the good pick to crap pick ratio.

The Raiders are missing on picks WAY too much.

Was a great Draft for us J-Russ, Mac-Miller, and JLH.

have been the building blocks for us and we’ve gotten some truly good talents. (past two years meaning 07 and 08 drafts, this draft is still uncertain of course)

Russell- still undecided but shows lots of promise
Miller- Pro Bowl caliber TE, just needs to be receiving more instead of blocking
Higgins- Pro Bowl level returner and speedy/elusive WR target
henderson- looks to be the starting LT this year, at which he succeeded last year
Richardson- definite DE starter, great in the run game and is really getting a good pass rush
Michael Bush- should be our starting back, tough runner with surprising speed and hands
McFadden- dynamic playmaking RB with great hands and blazing speed. needs to work on ball carrier vision
Branch- should be a starting S this year and a starting returner in the future. Fast and lays a mean hit
Scott- Great pass rushing DE (tied for rookie lead last year) who appears to be better in the run game this year. possibly a starter
Schilens- Amazing WR. 4.4 speed and the best hands of any of our receivers. I guarantee he’ll start this year

I’m surprised how many DBs were taken in the first 2 rounds, almost one in every year. Too bad they only found 1 really good one out of the bunch.

becuase we didnt get Crabtree.

In all honesty the drafting has been mediocre to terrible in some cases. They just have missed too many times at the top of their drafts. On that list the only great pick in my opinion has been Nnamdi(2003). There have been some good players picked in the later rounds who have contributed, but again no stars. The best teams always find a few diamonds in the rough. I’ll give one example that I remember vividly about 1st round drafting. The year they took Buchanon (2002), who was the top rated corner that year. Presumably, they watched film when they scouted him. If so I don’t know how they couldn’t have noticed that Ed Reed was the leader and top playmaker of that secondary at Miami. I watched at least 5 Miami games that year and you couldn’t miss that he was THE star of the national champions. We took Buchanon(17) and N.Harris(23) in front of Reed(24). Look at 2001, D. Gibson(28) & Tuiasosopo(59) in front of……Reggie Wayne(30), Todd Heap(31), Drew Brees(32), Chad Johnson(36), Kris Jenkins(44), Shaun Rogers (61),& Steve Smith(74). 2003, their 2nd 1st rounder was T. Brayton(32) which still mystifies me to this day, over Anquan Boldin(54) and Osi Umenyiora(56). Then Teyo Johnson(63) over Jason Witten(69). 2004 was already discussed by previous bloggers. 2005 F.Washington & S.Routt. Roddy White went 4picks after Washington and Routt went 7 picks in front of Lofa Tatupu. 2006 we took Huff @ 7, who I’m not ready to completely give up on, but this year is his last chance. Ernie Sims went @ 9 & H.Ngata went @ 12 and who could have been our run stopper in the middle. The last two years are still a work in progress. I won’t even comment on this year’s picks because I have never been more disappointed( I hope I’m completely wrong). I know that hindsight is 20/20 but you can’t tell me that these players I mentioned were under the radar. I didn’t even bring those players into the discussion! Let’s say personnel dictated why those picks were taken. So I’ll go through these drafts with that in mind in this scenario. 2001 we take Brees(QB) & Jenkins(DT) over Gibson(S) & Tuiasosopo). 2002 we take Reed(S) & Lito Sheppard(CB) who went @(26) over Buchanon(CB) and N.Harris(LB). 2003 we take Umenyiora(DE) over Brayton(DE) and Witten(TE) over T.Johnson(TE). 2004 we take L.Fitzgerald(WR) over Gallery(T). 2005 we take R.White(WR) & L.Tatupu(LB) over Washington(CB) & Routt(CB). 2006 we take Sims(LB) over Huff(S). Look at what we could have.
QB Brees(Saints)
WRFitzgerald(cards)
WR R.White(Falcons)
TE Witten(Cowboys)
DT K.Jenkins(Jets)
DE Umenyiora(G-men)
LB Tatupu(Seahawks)
LB Sims(Lions)
CB Sheppard(Eagles)
S Reed(Ravens)
I didn’t even bring guys into the mix who are solid starters because I wanted to have all star recognition. All of these players have been pro bowlers. The bottom line is we have done a terrible job of drafting at the top in recent years. At the top of the draft you should get the best player available and I’m not talking about 40 times and combine #‘s. Later rounds you can try and fill needs because there isn’t as much inherrent risk in missing on those guys. Even if we couldn’t have kept all of those guys for salary cap reasons, trade them for more picks. We probably would have won another super bowl or at least been in contention every year. I’ve been a Raider fan since I was 6 yrs old and it just kills me to see them struggle like they have in recent years. The draft has been even more frustrating because thats the reason behind our downfall. I’m not 100% sure who makes all of the scouting and draft decisions, but whoever it is needs to take some time to re-evaluate what it is they want in a player.