Oakland Raider Draft Update: Draft as "Long" as it is Deep

by Raymond St. Martin (Saint) on Jan 8, 2008 11:37 AM PST in News

Phew!!! Now that the only Bowl left to play is the Senior Bowl the draft is coming more into focus.

If everything stays the same then the Raiders will have NO third or fifth round draft choice. That means that they cannot miss on their top two picks.

The more that I think about the impact players in this draft and where they "could" or "should" go, I see Jake Long slipping to 3 or 4.

The Rams AND Miami need the most help on the D-Line.

Chris Long and Glen Dorsey remind me of Patrick Kerney and John Randle.

The more I think about this draft, the more I think that Dorsey and Long will make the largest impacts THIS year.

McFadden MAY be special, but for every ONE Adrian Peterson there are 25 Kijana Carters. And even IF McFadden has the ability, until the lines are fixed, he will be useless.

Jake Long even makes more sense than McFadden for any of the teams picking in the Top 3.

If the Raiders are drafting 3rd, they would HAVE to choose between the remaining members of the Dorsey, Long and Long Trio.

That leaves the #4 pick with the choice of strengthening their lines (Clady, Ellis), getting a QB (Ryan, Brohm, Woodson) or drafting the best talent available (Darren McFadden).

Either way, 5 of those 6 names will most likely be called over the next 7 selections.

Now, assuming that the Raiders do not trade their pick I'd like to see them select Chris Long, Glen Dorsey, Jake Long or McFadden in THAT order.

Like in any draft, the first round is the EASY part and will also effect your second selection.

Last year, after drafting JaMarcus, the Raiders selected a tight end that could grow with the young QB, Zach Miller.

If the selection is Chris Long, I would love to see a follow up with Early Doucet or Jaime Silva.

I don't see Silva being around in the fourth so I'd snag him in the proper slot in the 2nd. Hopefully Lane and Al can orchestrate a trade down that gets us a third rounder and we still snag Silva.

If it is impossible to move down then I hope that Early Doucet or Limas Sweed are still available.

The presence of Kelly and James Hardy in this draft have made it possible that one of those two will make it to the Raiders in the second round at #35.

If we got Howie's son and a Top flight receiver or a solid tackling Strong Safety I would applaud the Raider's first day.

Keep in mind that although they do not have their third round pick they did receive Mario Henderson in exchange for this year's pick.

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It is still a little early

not all the players have declared yet, and remember that Kiffin will be coaching the North All Stars which should give him a little insight onto some good players. I for one hope they don't draft an offensive lineman. I don't see that as a crucial need quite yet. If Chris Long is there when the Raiders pick, then it is a natural which Al couldn't pass up. Of course, maybe he is not as good as we think he is, then trading down is the answer, no way should they draft a runner. I hope they can pull some magic out and get a 3rd round pick, we blew it last year with Quentin Moses at 3rd but made up for it with Bush, Richardson and Higgins later. I doubt if Walter will bring anything better than a 6th pick, maybe not even that. I see the Raiders resigning McCown as the back up, maybe even keeping Walter for another year. I think the Raiders will make a big time free agent signing this year, perhaps even two, they have the salary cap space and with Sapp and Porter both going also some money saved there.
Jordan is gone, and I doubt they will sign Fargas either, they have Rhodes for the money they would have to pay Fargas, makes no sense, Rhodes is better, should have played last year. The problem about drafting Chris Long is that he is a defensive end, and what this team needs is a big time linebacker and defensive tackle. We'll see, this is a fun time of the year.

by chinabob on Jan 8, 2008 5:27 PM PST reply actions

Well one more running back just

declared. The depth at running back is staggering.

-- Ray Rice will skip his senior year to enter the NFL draft after becoming the leading rusher in Rutgers history and transforming the Scarlet Knights into a Top 25 team.

by theblackpearl on Jan 8, 2008 10:11 PM PST up reply actions

I remember that Denver

for several years had MVP type runners drafted in the 5th round, think it is such a waste to pick a runner in the 1st or 2nd round. Build your offensive line, the runners will have success, simple as that, well, not so simple getting good offensive line play but the Raiders showed improvement this year and with the offensive side of the coaching staff staying in tact, there should be improvement and I haven't given up on Mario Henderson yet. 2006 Kevin Boothe started, and got released before the season, McQuistan didn't play in 2006 and started in 2007. I see the same scenario for Henderson this year.

by chinabob on Jan 9, 2008 9:36 AM PST reply actions

The Raiders Need Bodies...Trade Down...

What I would like to see is the Raiders trade down and get some additional picks. If they could trade down to the middle of round one and pick up S Kenny Phillips and plug him into strong safety and move Huff over to free safety that would be a good backfield for many years.

Round two & 3 ( via trade down ) pick best available linebacker / OT, both are fairly deep in talent this year.

Other obvious needs for 2'nd day picks are DT,WR,OG.

I'd also love to see some trades. Go young and go physical, even if they are a half a step slower. Smurf DB's are useless against big strong wide outs.

It would be nice to have the enemy fearful of catching balls over the middle like the old days.

If JR pans out, the Raiders could be on the way back. If he turns out to be a bust, it will put us back 5 more years. I say Mike Bush will be surprise player of 2008.

Miss Bill King
Go Raiders

by picksixthengodeep on Jan 9, 2008 12:17 PM PST reply actions