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The Raiders seem to have found a decent three-man combination at receiver last season between Denarius Moore, Rod Streater, and Andre Holmes. After that there is pretty much nothing worth even mentioning.
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Not that many teams have much worth noting past the top three but the Raiders cupboard is basically bare. The team is done with the Jacoby Ford experiment, Juron Criner has been a huge disappointment, seventh round rookie Brice Butler looked decent in preseason and then did nothing after that.
What the Raiders lack is that game breaking number one receiver along with solid depth/competition. There are some more than decent options at wide receiver set to hit the market come March 11 that could instantly upgrade their receiving corps. Here are the players to keep an eye on.
Hakeem Nicks 26 - My favorite receiver in the 2009 draft as he was the most polished, technically sound of the bunch. And could he ever catch a football. The guy has hands like fly paper. He put up great numbers for the Giants in his first few seasons though he seems to have fallen off a bit of late. Then again, the entire Giants offense fell off of late. He still has two 1000-yard seasons to his name including the Giants' 2011 Super Bowl championship when he added 28 catches for 444 yards and 4 TD's in the postseason including 10 catches for 109 yards in the Super Bowl. Big stage; big time receiver.
Jeremy Maclin 26 - The wide receiver in the 2009 draft the Raiders probably should have chosen based on his combination of speed and receiving abilities. Imagine that, a receiver who can catch AND is fast. There were a few good ones in that very deep 2009 class. The Raiders had their pick of any one they wanted and they chose the one who Drops Hella Balls. Now, they have a second chance to get it right.
James Jones 29 - Jones is not flashy but he gets the job done. He has spent all seven of his NFL seasons with the Packers which, as we know, is where Reggie McKenzie spent many years in the front office. Jones has been a fulltime starter the past two seasons in Green Bay and has put up career numbers because of it, including an impressive 14 touchdown catches last season. This would also be a homecoming for Jones, who grew up in San Jose and attended San Jose State.
Darrius Heyward-Bey 27 - Juuuuust kidding.
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