Oakland Raiders post-draft odds and ends

May 1, 1:59 AMOakland Raiders ExaminerPatrick Patterson

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Questions remain on Raiders Defense
Photo by Patrick A. Patterson/TFDSsports.com

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Nearly a week has passed since the Oakland Raiders completed their draft. The Raider Nation's initial reaction of shock and anger has begun to give way to acceptance and optimism. The Raiders have been spending the interceding days adding undrafted free agents to add to their take of rookies.

The Nation is now envisioning JaMarcus Russell throwing bombs to Darrius Heyward-Bey, and putting points on the board. The visions of Mike Mitchell laying out guys in opposing uniforms have replaced the image of Chris Berman waving around a draft guide ranting about how horrid a pick he was.

The Raiders have added nine undrafted free agents so far. They have added one defensive lineman, three linebackers, three wide receivers, and an offensive lineman. Considering the Raiders play a base 4-3 defense, the addition of four linebackers (Three UDFAs and Slade Norris in the draft) to their already substantial stable of linebackers raises some questions.

The Raiders had a run on defensive ends, despite defensive tackles being the bigger issue. Cable said that the Raiders have good players at defensive tackle, but they don't play like it. It is surprising that with Cable's stress on hard work that he didn't bring in at least one defensive tackle in the draft to push the players to play to the potential he sees in them.

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Oren O'Neal's recovery is going to be key to the Oakland Raiders running game. The Raiders are one of the few teams that use fullbacks extensively, and O'Neal and Luke Lawton will have to knock linebackers out of the way if Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden, and Michael Bush are going to be able to play to their potential.

The Raiders running game suffered because former fullback Justin Griffith was a much better receiver than he was a blocker.

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To the reader who asked if I created my articles by putting together magnets with words on them: No, I actually have a million laptops with a million monkeys typing on them and select the best article they come up with.

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I'm happy to have said good bye to mock drafts for the next nine to ten months, however if you are up for it, there are sites that are already mocking the 2010 draft. All of them have the Raiders picking in the top ten once again.