Less than a week away from the much anticipated NFL draft and Raiders fans all over are divided with no consensus reached on who the Raiders will select with their first pick. What they do with that first pick will have obvious implications on how the rest of their draft will go.
Will they they take Crabtree if he is there? Will Crabtree even be there at #7? Even though the Raiders were very active this off season in addressing their offensive line, will they still take a tackle still at #7? Might they draft Raji or Orakpo? Is there a chance that Curry falls to them at #7? Or, will they engineer a trade and trade out of #7 and accumulate more choices, even if it's with Denver as a trading partner?
The problem with all of the mock drafts out there is that they rarely include trade scenarios. And one thing is for certain with the NFL draft is that there will be trades, either just before or on draft day.
Questions, questions, questions, that's what makes this years draft so intriguing. What is clear, is that this years draft has the kind of talent available to address many of the Raiders current needs which could provide an immediate impact for this season.
The problem? The Raiders currently just do not have enough choices to fill the needs that they have at WR, OL, DL, S and LB. Since the Raiders only have five choices, rounds 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7, and odds are that it will only be those first three rounds that the Raiders can expect to get an impact quality player. Yes, they might draft a solid player with their late selection in the fourth round, but the odds for that are diminished.
As speculation on my part, based purely on reading the tea leaves out in Alameda, the Raiders will go OT or WR in the first, with the other in the 2nd round and safety in the 3rd. That will leave the Raiders still exposed on the defensive line and at linebacker.
This is why I believe that the Raiders will, they must devise a plan to acquire at the very least one more top 100 selection. Whether that be by trading down in the first round and /or some 2010 choices or some of their veteran players, or a combination thereof, the Raiders must get more picks for the 2009 draft.