My thoughts on our 2010 Draft

I wrote some of this on another site I frequent (AllHipHop.com), but I thought I'd bring it here for my first FanPost. I'd like to hear supporting AND opposing views on my take on the draft....

Rolando McClain MLB Alabama

Lamarr Houston DT Texas

Jared Veldheer OT Hillsdale

Bruce Campbell OT Maryland

Jacoby Ford WR/KR Clemson

Walt McFadden CB Auburn

Travis Goethel ILB Arizona State

Jeremy Ware CB Michigan State

Stevie Brown S Michigan

Traded away: Cap'm Kirk Morrison


Traded for: Jason Campbell


I'd have to say this is the best Raiders draft since the year we got Nnamdi, and even HE took a few years to become the best CB in the league.


Rolando is a BEAST and is a bit of an improvement over Cap'm Kirk, but I still wish we kept Morrison as an outside backer along with Howard and Wimbley.


Houston is a NICE pickup and a great run stuffer unlike any we've had in recent years so that's a BIG improvement. You combine him with Seymour, Kelly, Bryant, Shaunessey, and Scott and I think our D just got a lot more efficient against the run.... I'm overjoyed to see my Raiders not lookin' like the Red Headed Stepchild with Autism of the NFL


Veldheer and Campbell are nice pickups for us, and we got Bruce much later than we were originally projected to get 'em so I'm really happy about that. Al musta been drugged the last few days 'cause I swear it ain't in us to use common sense these days. Campbell could turn out to be a BEAST with some work on his technique and Veldheer could provide a lot of immediate help at tackle. I just wish we got a more NFL ready RT or RG as opposed to a LT and a "project".

Jacoby Ford is a great pickup as a return man and extra receiver. I liked Nick Miller but he was out the whole year and only collected a paycheck for what he did in the preseason. I say we keep Miller as a backup just in case we have to deal with injuries in the return game again. But release Jonathan Holland if none of our current WR suffer a catastrophic injury in the meantime

Walt McFadden isn't a bad pickup this late in the draft, but I would have MUCH rather had Akwasi Owusu-Ansah instead of one of the OTs we drafted. He woulda been a BEAST for us. I still say we got a pretty good DB that can learn from Aso, so I ain't even mad at this. Travis Goethel is a nice pickup to compete with Ricky B. from what I hear. And since I was never really sold on Ricky being a legitimate threat at MLB, I'm lookin' forward to seeing if he can challenge him for the backup position to Roland(o) the Barbarian. Stevie Brown can be a good backup to Huff/Branch/Mitchell and can learn the ropes from them as one of them (hopefully) converts to CB if Ware or McFadden doesn't pan out.

Trading for Jason Campbell was something I kinda wasn't feelin' but since we got him for a sack of peanuts, a nicklebag, and some blunt wraps, I gotta say this could get JaCarcus out much faster than I thought he'd leave. Campbell might play with a chip on his shoulder too, so I like it. If he and Bruce can compete for the starting QB job, our team will be solid with whoever wins the job.


So in all, I think my Raiders didn't blow it like I thought they would, and they actually drafted like a team that belongs in the NFL for once. I guess Al was too busy to ruin the draft for us, like usual, since he'll be the star of the next "Tales From the Crypt" movie....(yeah, I said it!). Either way, Draftie Claus was on our side this weekend!


I give the Raiders an A- for gettin' some good value out of what we have, and setting us up for a pretty good season..... I still say that 8-8 is a GREAT possibility with the talent we have now. And we'll be an even bigger force come 2011, if there's even a season.....

I'm more proud of this team now than I was during the Superbowl season. 'Cause at least they're playing for a coach they like/respect and we can only go up from here. We all know how miserable these last 7-8 years have been, and I only hope that this year will provide the necessary spark to steer this ship in the right direction. If not, I'm on the first plane to Detroit to take my Homerism to a team more worthy of it! Haha. I keed. I keed.