Bruce Gradkowski to Louis Murphy excited us in 2009. Jason Campbell hit Jacoby Ford for some bombs last year, but we need a wide receiver corps. One needn't go far to get an opinion from the Nation regarding drafting a quarterback in the first round. I am surprised at the willingness by most to use the early pick for a young gunslinger, despite our history of doing so, both recently and in decades past; it seems our only success finding quarterbacks comes by finding a diamond in the rough rejected by so many others, giving them another real chance to shine, and cutting them loose. But because we as Raider fans have become so accustomed to being completely blindisded by draft picks of all levels, we must prepare ourselves for any and all possiblities late April year in and year out. Hence, the large list of prospects, since we know that at the very least, working Colin Kaepernick out means we have kicked the tires on at least one of these top guys. We are also in agreement that a possession receiver, and hopefully one that can make a push for the number 1 or 2 spots we can't keep filled either due to injury or inconsistency, and though I believe we will tap some of the deep talent late and even off the board, we'll examine possibilites there from top to bottom as well. Who will wear silver and black this year?
Hit the jump to see potential candidates...
Top Draft 2011 Prospects -- (Updated 4/8/2011) | |||||||||
Rank | Player | Pos. | Position Rank |
School | Class | Ht. | Wt. | 40 Time | Bench Reps |
10 | Blaine Gabbert | QB | 1 | Missouri | Jr | 6-4 | 234 | 4.61 | N/A |
11 | Cameron Newton | QB | 2 | Auburn | rJr | 6-5 | 248 | 4.56 | N/A |
23 | Jake Locker | QB | 3 | Washington | rSr | 6-3 | 231 | 4.50 | N/A |
31 | Christian Ponder | QB | 4 | Florida State | rSr | 6-2 | 229 | 4.63 | N/A |
42 | Ryan Mallett | QB | 5 | Arkansas | rJr | 6-7 | 253 | 5.37 | N/A |
56 | Colin Kaepernick | QB | 6 | Nevada | rSr | 6-5 | 233 | 4.53 | N/A |
63 | Andy Dalton | QB | 7 | TCU | rSr | 6-2 | 215 | 4.82 | N/A |
106 | Ricky Stanzi | QB | 8 | Iowa | rSr | 6-4 | 223 | 4.87 | N/A |
142 | Pat Devlin | QB | 9 | Delaware | rSr | 6-3 | 225 | 4.81 | N/A |
169 | Greg McElroy | QB | 10 | Alabama | rSr | 6-2 | 220 | 4.84 | N/A |
210 | Tyrod Taylor | QB | 11 | Virginia Tech | Sr | 6-1 | 217 | 4.47 | N/A |
231 | Taylor Potts | QB | 12 | Texas Tech | rSr | 6-4 | 218 | 5.00 | N/A |
258 | Adam Weber | QB | 13 | Minnesota | rSr | 6-1 | 209 | 4.73 | N/A |
291 | Scott Tolzien | QB | 14 | Wisconsin | rSr | 6-2 | 212 | 4.92 | N/A |
297 | T.J. Yates | QB | 15 | North Carolina | rSr | 6-3 | 219 | 5.06 | N/A |
300 | Nathan Enderle | QB | 16 | Idaho | rSr | 6-4 | 240 | 5.12 | N/A |
313 | Josh Portis | QB | 17 | California (PA) | rSr | 6-3 | 211 | 4.59 | N/A |
338 | Jerrod Johnson | QB | 18 | Texas A&M | rSr | 6-5 | 251 | 4.75 | N/A |
358 | Jeff Van Camp | QB | 19 | Florida Atlantic | rSr | 6-5 | 218 | 4.83 | N/A |
426 | Mike Hartline | QB | 20 | Kentucky | rSr | 6-5 | 219 | 4.95 | N/A |
458 | Adam Froman | QB | 21 | Louisville | Sr | 6-4 | 220 | 4.56 | N/A |
477 | Ben Chappell | QB | 22 | Indiana | rSr | 6-2 | 224 | 5.08 | N/A |
495 | Ryan Colburn | QB | 23 | Fresno State | rSr | 6-3 | 233 | 5.12 | N/A |
506 | Mitch Mustain | QB | 24 | Southern California | rSr | 6-2 | 200 | 4.74 | N/A |
509 | Trevor Vittatoe | QB | 25 | Texas-El Paso | rSr | 6-2 | 218 | 4.81 | N/A |
517 | Zack Eskridge | QB | 26 | Midwestern State | rSr | 6-3 | 226 | 4.84 | N/A |
530 | Blake Bolles | QB | 27 | Northwest Missouri State | Sr | 6-3 | 198 | 4.67 | N/A |
545 | Chris Dieker | QB | 28 | Southern Illinois | rSr | 6-5 | 232 | 4.92 | N/A |
557 | Justin Roper | QB | 29 | Montana | rSr | 6-6 | 218 | 4.86 | N/A |
567 | Michael Herrick | QB | 30 | Northern Arizona | rSr | 6-1 | 205 | 5.12 | N/A |
592 | Austen Arnaud | QB | 31 | Iowa State | rSr | 6-3 | 230 | 4.89 | N/A |
610 | Troy Weatherhead | QB | 32 | Hillsdale | Sr | 6-3 | 217 | 5.15 | N/A |
625 | Cameron Higgins | QB | 33 | Weber State | rSr | 6-1 | 200 | 4.74 | N/A |
642 | Zach Frazer | QB | 34 | Connecticut | rSr | 6-4 | 231 | 4.84 | N/A |
660 | Arvell Nelson | QB | 35 | Texas Southern | rSr | 6-5 | 228 | 4.92 | N/A |
677 | Marc Verica | QB | 36 | Virginia | rSr | 6-2 | 204 | 4.75 | N/A |
684 | Kyle Havens | QB | 37 | Massachusetts | Sr | 6-4 | 220 | 4.94 | N/A |
702 | Jeremiah Masoli | QB | 38 | Mississippi | Sr | 5-10 | 223 | 4.64 | N/A |
717 | Diondre Borel | QB | 39 | Utah State | Sr | 6-0 | 199 | 4.52 | N/A |
741 | K.J. Black | QB | 40 | Prairie View A&M | rSr | 6-3 | 229 | 5.15 | N/A |
N/A | Omar Clayton | QB | 41 | UNLV | Sr | 6-1 | 205 | 4.64 | N/A |
N/A | Taylor Harris | QB | 42 | West Texas A&M | Sr | 6-2 | 233 | 5.18 | N/A |
N/A | Carson Coffman | QB | 43 | Kansas State | rSr | 6-2 | 215 | 4.74 | N/A |
N/A | Zac Lee | QB | 44 | Nebraska | Sr | 6-1 | 215 | 4.86 | N/A |
N/A | Chris Whitney | QB | 45 | Villanova | Sr | 6-2 | 243 | 4.76 | N/A |
N/A | Steven Sheffield | QB | 46 | Texas Tech | Sr | 6-5 | 211 | 4.72 | N/A |
N/A | Matt Barr | QB | 47 | Western Illinois | Sr | 6-1 | 205 | 4.63 | N/A |
N/A | Ross Jenkins | QB | 48 | Louisiana Tech | rSr | 6-3 | 212 | 4.75 | N/A |
N/A | Kyle McMahon | QB | 49 | Grand Valley State | Sr | 6-3 | 208 | 4.85 | N/A |
N/A | Scott Riddle | QB | 50 | Elon | Sr | 6-0 | 208 | 4.72 | N/A |
Barring any trading up, the Newtons, Gabberts, and Lockers look to be gone. Let me emphasize again: I in no way want to take a qb with our first pick, but am prepared for the off chance a Kaepernick falls to us at 48 and we use that first pick on him, and at that point one can easily make a solid argument for him being the best player available. We have discussed him at length, and it seems that though we agree we should take a tackle first as it's our biggest need, we also agree that the run on the tackle talent might find them totally gone by 40 with the exception of some marginal talent that may not cut it as tackle at the pro level, and most of us wouldn't hate the pick too much. We will certainly pray that we get a starting caliber tackle in free agency then, but Colin can play, and we are cognizant the chances he could be a Raider are there. It's also pretty widely agreed upon here that if we keep forgoing filling that desperate need, the best talent at qb/wr is moot, because we can't keep using the playbook to compensate for the inability to pass protect consistently. Let's hope if we go this route and do take a QB early, that we use at least two of the other picks to get some help up front, and address other needs as well.
Ryan Mallett has been mentioned as well, and for the record, I don't hate the kid whatsoever; just don't use the 48th pick (or the third rounder preferably). He has a huge arm, and could also have caught the eye of Al Davis, who will forever harken back to days of vertical game glory.
But suppose we are fortunate enough to find the lineman we want early, and decide to go value pick with a gunslinger. We have expressed interest in Veldheer's fellow alum in Troy Weatherhead, projected off the board due to questions of arm strength and coming from a division II school. PROFILE Very impressive record breaking numbers, and with guys like this available off the board, and our staff feeling good about the position right now, we are in a great position to be patient and wait for the right guy to come right to us.
Another interesting late rounder with some great speed, and some 2:00 drill heroics on his resume against some pretty tough schools:
458 | Adam Froman | QB | 21 | Louisville | Sr | 6-4 | 220 | 4.56 | N/A |
Another steal we've talked about, in late rounds with arm strength question marks that mean he's probably not an Al Davis guy:
169 | Greg McElroy | QB | 10 | Alabama | rSr | 6-2 | 220 | 4.84 | N/A |
Ricky Stanzi is a plain gamer, and if he would somehow fall to us in the fifth, would be an amazing value, probably even worth the fourth. Josh Portis is another guy who could fall and be a great value, with some history concerns, but not a worry with a late pick and the contract he'll get.
Now for that guy to bring a little something to our aerial offense...
Here's the list, from 4-50, and I'll be stoked to get number 49:
44 | Leonard Hankerson | WR | 4 | Miami (Fla.) | Sr | 6-2 | 209 | 4.40 | 14 |
46 | Randall Cobb | WR | 5 | Kentucky | Jr | 5-10 | 191 | 4.46 | 16 |
49 | Jerrel Jernigan | WR | 6 | Troy | Sr | 5-09 | 185 | 4.46 | 11 |
55 | Jon Baldwin | WR | 7 | Pittsburgh | Jr | 6-4 | 228 | 4.49 | 20 |
70 | Titus Young | WR | 8 | Boise State | rSr | 5-11 | 174 | 4.43 | N/A |
84 | Edmond Gates | WR | 9 | Abilene Christian | Sr | 6-0 | 192 | 4.31 | 16 |
96 | Greg Little | WR | 11 | North Carolina | Sr | 6-3 | 231 | 4.51 | 27 |
105 | Niles Paul | WR | 10 | Nebraska | Sr | 6-1 | 224 | 4.45 | 24 |
107 | Tandon Doss | WR | 12 | Indiana | Jr | 6-2 | 201 | 4.56 | 14 |
128 | Terrence Toliver | WR | 13 | LSU | Sr | 6-4 | 212 | 4.52 | N/A |
131 | Greg Salas | WR | 14 | Hawaii | rSr | 6-1 | 210 | 4.53 | 15 |
150 | Ronald Johnson | WR | 15 | Southern California | Sr | 5-11 | 199 | 4.46 | 16 |
153 | Denarius Moore | WR | 16 | Tennessee | Sr | 6-0 | 194 | 4.43 | 13 |
160 | Austin Pettis | WR | 17 | Boise State | Sr | 6-3 | 209 | 4.56 | 14 |
162 | Jeremy Kerley | WR | 18 | TCU | Sr | 5-10 | 189 | 4.56 | 16 |
166 | Vincent Brown | WR | 19 | San Diego State | Sr | 5-11 | 187 | 4.68 | 12 |
171 | Cecil Shorts III | WR | 20 | Mount Union | rSr | 6-0 | 205 | 4.50 | 21 |
180 | Ryan Whalen | WR | 21 | Stanford | Sr | 6-1 | 202 | 4.53 | 18 |
185 | Dane Sanzenbacher | WR | 22 | Ohio State | Sr | 5-11 | 182 | 4.56 | N/A |
190 | Dwayne Harris | WR | 23 | East Carolina | rSr | 5-10 | 203 | 4.53 | 10 |
200 | Tori Gurley | WR | 24 | South Carolina | rSo | 6-4 | 216 | 4.53 | 15 |
209 | Jeff Maehl | WR | 25 | Oregon | Sr | 6-1 | 190 | 4.56 | N/A |
211 | Darvin Adams | WR | 26 | Auburn | Jr | 6-2 | 190 | 4.56 | N/A |
221 | Stephen Burton | WR | 27 | West Texas A&M | Sr | 6-1 | 221 | 4.50 | 19 |
227 | Aldrick Robinson | WR | 28 | Southern Methodist | Sr | 5-10 | 184 | 4.35 | 17 |
229 | Ricardo Lockette | WR | 29 | Fort Valley State | rSr | 6-2 | 211 | 4.34 | N/A |
247 | Courtney Smith | WR | 30 | South Alabama | Sr | 6-4 | 223 | 4.65 | N/A |
249 | Chris Matthews | WR | 31 | Kentucky | Sr | 6-5 | 218 | 4.57 | N/A |
261 | Marshall Williams | WR | 32 | Wake Forest | rSr | 6-1 | 188 | 4.56 | 09 |
280 | Lester Jean | WR | 33 | Florida Atlantic | Sr | 6-3 | 215 | 4.61 | 14 |
285 | O.J. Murdock | WR | 34 | Fort Hays State | rSr | 5-11 | 197 | 4.53 | 15 |
287 | Jimmy Young | WR | 35 | TCU | rSr | 6-0 | 204 | 4.50 | 19 |
288 | Jock Sanders | WR | 36 | West Virginia | Sr | 5-06 | 181 | 4.50 | 19 |
312 | DeAndre Brown | WR | 37 | Southern Mississippi | Jr | 6-6 | 233 | 4.59 | 20 |
326 | Owen Spencer | WR | 38 | North Carolina State | Sr | 6-2 | 195 | 4.51 | 06 |
332 | Jeremy Ross | WR | 39 | California | rSr | 6-0 | 209 | 4.45 | N/A |
336 | Armon Binns | WR | 40 | Cincinnati | Sr | 6-3 | 209 | 4.50 | 13 |
339 | Mark Dell | WR | 41 | Michigan State | Sr | 6-0 | 193 | 4.57 | 14 |
345 | Armand Robinson | WR | 42 | Miami (Ohio) | rSr | 5-11 | 197 | 4.52 | N/A |
353 | Kealoha Pilares | WR | 43 | Hawaii | Sr | 5-10 | 199 | 4.42 | 19 |
363 | Detron Lewis | WR | 44 | Texas Tech | Sr | 6-0 | 198 | 4.64 | N/A |
370 | DeMarco Sampson | WR | 45 | San Diego State | rSr | 6-2 | 204 | 4.41 | 14 |
382 | Kris Adams | WR | 46 | Texas-El Paso | rSr | 6-4 | 194 | 4.44 | N/A |
388 | James Cleveland | WR | 47 | Houston | Sr | 6-1 | 205 | 4.57 | N/A |
397 | Marcus Harris | WR | 48 | Murray State | Sr | 6-1 | 187 | 4.55 | N/A |
407 | Andre Holmes | WR | 49 | Hillsdale | Sr | 6-4 | 210 | 4.51 | 11 |
411 | Scotty McKnight | WR | 50 | Colorado | rSr | 5-11 | 182 | 4.50 | N/A |
Since it's not really a need, at least one we don't believe the organization is in agreement with us on and expect before the sixth round, why not wait, when there are guys like this (profile from NFLdraftscout.com):
Andre Holmes, DS #49 WR, Hillsdale
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Combine Results
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Pro Day Results
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Combine Invite: Yes Height: 6043 Weight: 210 40 Yrd Dash: 4.51 20 Yrd Dash: 2.60 10 Yrd Dash: 1.61 |
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 11 Vertical Jump: 35 Broad Jump: 10'10" 20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.31 3-Cone Drill: 6.69 4.42/4.49/4.58 40 range before Combine |
Dates: Height: 6043 Weight: 210 40 Yrd Dash: 4.45 20 Yrd Dash: 2.61 10 Yrd Dash: 1.60 |
225 Lb. Bench Reps: Vertical Jump: 33 1/2 Broad Jump: 20 Yrd Shuttle: 3-Cone Drill: |
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Draft Scout Snapshot: DS Rating on 9-1-10: #96 WR, #739/750 Overall,
2010: Put together the most productive season of any wide receiver in the 119-year history of Hillsdale College football...Set single-season school records for receptions (104), and receiving yards (1,368), and caught 11 touchdown passes...Set a single-game school record in the team's first-round playoff game at St. Cloud State with 16 receptions, and his 208 receiving yards were the second-most in a game in school history...Named First-Team All-GLIAC for second year in a row, and Second-Team All-Region...Had five 100-yard receiving games, and he went over 126 yards in each of those games...Had 30 more receptions than any other player in the GLIAC, and 468 more receiving yards than any other player in the conference...Averaged 114 receiving yards per game, and the next-closest player in the conference to that total had 81 receiving yards per game...2009: Electric playmaker at wide receiver who emerged as one of the GLIAC’s most difficult players to cover in 2009…Finished second in the GLIAC in receptions and first in receiving yards…Named First-Team All-GLIAC, the fourth different Hillsdale wide receiver to receive the distinction in the past three seasons…Had four 100-yard receiving games...2008: Exciting playmaker and one of the toughest covers in the GLIAC with his size and speed...Caught 29 passes for 490 yards and four scores...Averaged 17 yards per catch, and had three receptions of 59 yards or more...2007: Earned steady playing time as a backup wide receiver...Played in all 11 games, finishing with nine receptions for 158 yards..Also a member of the men’s track team, and won the GLIAC title in the outdoor triple jump at the conference championships...2006: Redshirted.
projected off the board? Big, tall, fast, and with record breaking numbers catching the ball. I don't care where he went to school; I'm suprised he's projected undrafted.
Also intrigued by this kid but he begs the question: is he another Chaz Schilens?
DeAndre Brown, WR
40 Time: 4.59 sec. | Bench Reps: 20 | Vertical Jump: 29" |
What do you think? Do we see a quarterback or wideout picked with our second, third, or fourth rounders on Friday the 29th? Who's on your wish list, or do we get an experienced free agent?