Yesterday was a look at the Raiders various draft moves that did not work out so well, for whatever reason. Today, it is time to look at the picks that went right. These are the players that ended up being the biggest steals. As there was yesterday, there will be disagreement with this list. Without further ado, here is the top ten Raider draft steals.
10. Nnamdi Asomugha 2003 1st rd #31
OK, how can a first round pick be a steal? Very easily, he is selected at the end of the round and becomes the elite player at his position. At the time, he was so unknown the commissioner butchered his name. Now, he is considered the best corner in the game.
9. Ronald Curry 2002 7th round #235
True, Curry was injury prone, and never had a 1000 yard season. He was selected with a throwaway pick and ended up leading the team in receiving categories for two years. His problematic 2008 campaign made it easy to forget that he was money for the Raiders for a couple years. He also gets bonus points for the spectacular catch in the snow in Denver.
8 Grady Jackson 1997 6th rd # 193
Grady Jackson was a key member of the Raiders defense during their playoff run in the early 2000s. He was the run clogger that the Raiders are sorely missing now.
7 Howie Long 1981 2nd rd #48
Long was actually the third player picked by the defending champion Oakland Raiders in that draft. He went on to a Hall of Fame career for the Silver and Black.
6 Bo Jackson 1987 7th rd # 183
Bo was one of the most high profile athletes ever. He was also a freak of nature on both the baseball diamond and gridiorn. Had Bo played football full time, instead of splitting his time between baseball and football, and had he not gotten injured after only four seasons he would likely have set every rushing record so high they would never be broken. He was a steal for the Raiders in the seventh round, however, he was only a part time player for a short time.
5 Greg Biekert 1993 7th rd # 181
Beikert was the leader of the Raiders defense for several years. He was the one who deciphered Peyton Manning's audibles in a game against the Colts, which helped the Raiders come from behind in 2000.
4 Shane Lechler 2000 5th rd # 142
If Lechler played any other position, his name would be consistently preceded with the phrase "future Hall of Famer." He is the all time leader in net punting average. He is establishing himself as possibly the best ever at his position, and the Raiders got him in the fifth round.
3 Rod Martin 1977 12th rd #317
His name wasn't carved on the MVP plaque after his three interceptions in Super Bowl XV, but it should have been. He played for the Raiders for 12 years, and was selected in a round that no longer exists.
2 Greg Townsend 1983 4th rd # 110
Townsend was selected in the fourth round, and went on to terrorize opposing quarterbacks for the remainder of his career. He is currently the Raiders career sack leader.
1 Lester Hayes 1977 5th rd # 126
Lester Hayes was the very definition of shutdown corner during his time in Silver and Black. After his breakout season in 1980 where he missed the single season interception record by one, quarterbacks started ignoring his site of the field.
Comments
Steve Sylvester& Mervyn Fernandez. Fernandez played in Canada for awhile, but he was pretty good when he returned. Honorable mention would be Bruce Davis&Mark Vaneeghan. Cliff Branch was only a 4th! If we got a player of that caliber in the 4th round in 09 we'd all be jumping for joy!
Hey, I also wanted to mention La'Roi Glover. Granted, he barely played a full season for us. But he still has over 80 sacks to his career. I would take that from a fifth round pick anyday!
Uhh HELLO??? The Raiders stole or fleeced my Houston Texans when Houston gave up a 2nd and 3rd round pick to the Raiders for Philip Buchanan the CB/Matador tackler.
My Sources are confirming bush and a 3rd round pick are being shipped to the Bengals for Chad Johnson. I meant to say ocho cinco. The story will be confirmed Monday when both players undergo physicals.
I wonder how good Lester the Molester would have been without stickum.......but the guy was a player...thats when I actually liked the Raiders....right after my hometown Bolts that is!
You have to mention Ray Guy as one of the all time steals of any draft. Who, but Al Davis, would have pulled the trigger on a pure punter in the draft. And back when he was drafted in 1973 punters were not highly thought of as football players. Ray Guy revolutionized punting and should be on this list.
You should do an "if only" list as in we drafted Ted Watts "if only" we had drafted Hanford Dixon instead.
LHayes played more than a couple years without stickum bolthead.
junebug says:
My Sources are confirming bush and a 3rd round pick are being shipped to the Bengals for Chad Johnson. I meant to say ocho cinco. The story will be confirmed Monday when both players undergo physicals.
April 3, 5:26 PM
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"My sources", lol.
Michael Bush AND a 3rd rounder for a 31 yr old big mouthed a-hole?
I don't think so.
good stuff Pat. Proffotballtalk.com linked your story
Michael Bush, First pick of the second, he definitely is steal, especially how he is a beast at tht position, and how he dismantled the Bucs
the raiders will take Malcolm Jenkins at #7 and will play him at safety. Al loves d-backs.
thank you for pointing out my boy biekert. most people seem to forget about how he led the raiders in tackles from the last couple of years in LA til the last season he was with us, unfortunately the last play he was in was the fumble recovery on the *&$# rule. but he did shut down manning almost every time we faced him.
Patrick, I really like to read your articles but I have to say you blew in on your top 10. Here is number 1! (from ESPN.com)
FB Marv Hubbard (Round 11, 276th overall, Colgate): Hubbard, who would go to three Pro Bowls in his career, was acquired late in the draft. In the modern draft era, only six players who have gone to at least three Pro Bowls were drafted lower than Hubbard. Running behind four Hall-of-Fame linemen in 1972, Hubbard finished fifth in the NFL with 1,100 yards. Due to injuries, Hubbard missed out on the Raiders' Super Bowl win in 1976, but his 4,394 career rushing yards are fifth-best in Raider history.
hello?? Did we forget Kenny Stabler was a 2nd round steal???
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