Top 40 Players: (Off the Top Of My Head)

by Raymond St. Martin (Saint) on Feb 25, 2008 4:10 PM PST in News Comment 5 comments

It should be no secret that I am rooting for the Raiders to acquire Trevor Laws in the second round.

Some people will say that taking him at #34 is a reach and others think that he will be gone.

Here is a list of players who SHOULD be off the board before the #34 pick.

Darren Mcfadden
Jonathan Stewart
Rashard Mendenhall
Malcolm Kelly
Felix Jones
Jake Long
Ryan Clady
Jeff Otah
Vernon Gholston
Dan Connor
Kentwan Balmer
Sedrick Ellis
Chris Long
Keith Rivers
Glen Dorsey
Limas Sweed
Mike Jenkins
Aqib Talib
DeSean Jackson
Brandon Flowers
Matt Ryan
Brian Brohm
Sam Baker
Chris Williams
Rogers-Cromartie
Leodis McKelvin
Derek Harvey
Kenny Phillips
Jamaal Charles
James Hardy
Early Doucett
Mario Manningham
Brandon Albert

Those are 33 names that should go before the #34 pick...

the players that I expect to be there are:

Gosder Cherilus
Adarius Bowman
Devin Thomas
TREVOR LAWS
Erin Henderson
Antoine Caison
Calais Campbell (He COULD go in the first, BUT, some questions about his work ethic have been raised)
Lawrence Jackson (Also a Possible First Rounder)

That is a group of forty-one players. You can remove the QBs and half of the dbs and STILL have a shot at a few of these guys...

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It is so difficult to predict

because we know there will be surprises in the 1st round. Some team is going to covet a player who is not rated so high by other teams. It is always a crap shoot, guys who we think are going to be great will not be, guys we don't like will be, that is the way of the draft. Last year we were all excited about Moses, that didn't work out very well. We got Clemons off the scrap heap and I think we found a pretty good player.
I read on the rumor mill on ESPN today that Davis is going to fire Kiffin and replace him with Lofton. The rumors won't die and to be perfectly honest I think that is what is going to happen.
Supposedly Knapp and Rathman will leave next year for Seattle to unite with their new head coach. I'm ok with that, and I understand, I just hope Kiffin stays but I have that bad feeling he is not. You just cannot cross Al, and I think Kiffin did that last season. That explains why Kiffin is AWOL at Indy but all the other coaches are easily assessable.

by chinabob on Feb 25, 2008 5:40 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Did you read John Czarnecki's column

He says the Cowboys are going hard after Randy Moss. TO and Moss, unstoppppppable, he also says even if Kiffin is around, his staff may not be.

There is still a chance that Raiders owner Al Davis will fire head coach Lane Kiffin and replace him with James Lofton, who was fired as the receivers coach of the Chargers. How bizarre is that? It's also no secret that current Oakland assistans Greg Knapp and Tom Rathman will be on Jim Mora's 2009 Seattle coaching staff.

by theblackpearl on Feb 25, 2008 7:24 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I don't read into Knapp or Rathman

going as anything sinister. Perhaps they are good friends with Mora, and will get higher profile jobs in Seattle, that happens all the time in this league. In Rahtman's case he is simply a backs coach, perhaps he will get a higher profile job in Seattle, in Knapp's case he will probably get to call all the plays, here he has been relegated to sitting in the booth while Kiffin calls the plays. The bigger question is if Kiffin is gone, and Lofton takes over, will Knapp be a real offensive coordinator. I doubt that Lofton will call the plays from the field.

by chinabob on Feb 25, 2008 8:24 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Great Points Guys;

My take:

Knapp joined this staff as a quality control coordinator for Lane Kiffin. He was a Lifeline or Parachute for the young coach as he cut his teeth on the NFL.

I expect Knapp to rejoin Mora and do what he wants to do...CALL THE PLAYS!!!

As far as Rathman goes, I think someone made that up. At this point, NOBODY, outside of the Raiders inner circle knows what is going on...Only time will tell, but for now, i am getting pretty stoked for the draft...

Pride And Poise!!!

by Raymond St. Martin (Saint) on Feb 25, 2008 10:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs