It should not surprise anyone that the Raiders are one of only five NFL teams that do not employ a GM. The Bengals, Cowboys, Patriots, and Redskins are the others. Of these five teams we can only call one of them (Patriots) successful.
To be really honest the state of the Raiders is a sad affair for sports fans. I count Al Davis among my personal sports heroes, but Al has lost something in recent years. The NFL game has passed him by, while he was once a visionary he is little more now than a sad old man grasping at his previous greatness.
Let us not forget Davis brought the vertical passing game to the league, an offense based on the West Coast offense he learned while a Coach for the San Diego Chargers. He won an AFL title and three Super Bowls while his teams have gone on to win four AFC titles, 15 division titles, and appeared in the playoffs 21 times. That is an impressive resume for any football career. However without a doubt the Raiders had the worst 2009 draft.
In round #1 with the 7th overall pick the Raiders reached way down to take WR Darrius Heyward-Bey from Maryland. Bey was the 6th overall rated wide out in this draft but Davis made him the first selected. Several other quality wide outs were available but Davis was sold on Bey’s speed. However most NFL scouts were operating under the conclusion that speed was the only weapon Bey has.
This team needs more weapons for QB Jamarcus Russell. Of course Russell is but one of 6 QB’s the Raiders have had on their roster this offseason. The others include; Charlie Frye, Jeff Garcia, Bruce Gradkowski, Danny Southwick, and Andrew Walter. This shows clearly this is a team with no defined direction. Davis is just collecting “Talent” that he thinks can return his Raiders to the glory days of old. While Southwick and Walter have left the team, this team still has four QB's on it, and even the team's ofiicial website has no idea what the depth chart looks like.
In the second round the Raiders selected S Michael Mitchell from Ohio University with the 47th overall pick. Mitchell was the 42nd ranked safety in this draft but Davis made him the second safety to be drafted. While Mitchell is capable of bringing an impact to both the run and pass defense of the Raiders he is not likely to be a starter in 2009.
In the end the Raiders had bigger needs and other positions like OT, and DT. While they did address some of these issues in later rounds they also took Louis Murphy WR from Florida in 4th round. Murphy is little more than another deep threat that Davis hopes will further his legacy as an offensive genius. It is really too bad to see this once proud man, becoming such a joke. That may sound a little harsh but this team only has won 11 games in the past three seasons. That is only one more win than the pathetic Detroit Lions.
With that being said let look at the 2009 Raiders draft grades:
Round 1- F
Round 2- F
Talent- F
Need- F
Average-F
Sometimes it really is that simple the Raiders have failed in every aspect of this draft and further set themselves back from respectability. With that being said here is a complete look at the 2009 Raiders draft:
Round One 7th overall Darius Heyward-Bey WR Maryland
Round Two 47th overall Michael Mitchell S Ohio
Round Three 71st overall Matt Shaughessy DE Wisconsin
Round Four 124th overall Louis Murphy WR Florida
Round Four 126th overall Slade Norris DE/OLB Oregon State
Round Six 199th overall Stryker Sulak DE Missouri
Round Six 202nd overall Brandon Myers TE Iowa
Comments
Josh, I agree with you 100%. You have to build the O-line and D-line before putting the high priced RBs, WRs and QBs out there to get killed. Everyone forgets these other teams improved as well.We haven't gained anything on them, we are now farther behind.
You don't "build" O-Lines & D-Lines like Legos, you take capable parts and you coach them up! Take the Jets for instance, they drafted D'Brick on O-Line and Gholston on D-Line. Two capable parts, one (D'Brick) who couldn't stop our rookie DE Scott from sacking Favre twice last season and Gholston who hasn't made a peep since he's entered the league. You have to coach these parts up before you can expect them to perform! No draft picks are guaranteed "plug and play" performers. So, with that being said, the players that the Raiders have selected may just well be the men we need to succeed. They may just need real, bonafide coaching. The question that should really be asked is, "Have the Raiders had "real, bonafide coaching" during the past few, awful seasons?". I, for one, suspect that the Raiders have been bamboozled by a couple of coaches whose credentials go no further than their respective family names(The Kiffins & Ryans). Both OAK and NYJ recently improved their coaching staffs.
lOOKS LIKE THE BEST PICK WAS MURPHY IN THE 4TH ROUND.CAN ANYONE SAY STEAL ON DAY 2.
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