Up until the start of the NFL free agency period, it was like pulling teeth to get anything new out of Oakland other than more Lane Kiffin firing rumors.  Since that day, the Raiders have been working at a feverish pace to rework the roster that only brought them four wins last year. 

Now that the Raiders have expanded the payroll to near cap level, I expect that there will be a lull in the action until draft day.  This might be a good time to go through the roster and analyze the depth chart and the revised needs.

QB

Depth:

1. JaMarcus Russell
2. Andrew Walter
3. N/A

RB

Depth:

1. Justin Fargas
2. Dominic Rhodes
3. Michael Bush
4. Adimchinobe Echemandu
5. Lamont Jordan

Need: NONE – What they need to do is cut or trade Jordan—and even then, they’ll have one too many RBs. 

FB

Depth:

1. Justin Griffith
2. Oren Oneal

Need: NONE – May be a strength on the team. 

TE

Depth:

1. Zach Miller
2. John Madsen
3. Tony Stewart
4. Fred Wakefield

WR

Depth:

1. Javon Walker
2. Ronald Curry
3. Drew Carter
4. Johnie Lee Higgins
5. Chris McFoy
6. Jonathan Holland
7. Will Buchanon
8. Drisan James

OT

Depth:

1. Cornell Green
2. Paul McQuistan
3. Kwame Harris
4. Mario Henderson
5. Mark Wilson
6. Seth Wand
7. Jonathan Palmer

OG

Depth:

1. Robert Gallery
2. Cooper Carlisle
3. Paul McQuistan
4. Jake Grove
5. Chris Morris
6. Jesse Boone

C 
Depth:

1. Jake Grove
2. Chris Morris
3. Jesse Boone

CB

Depth:

1. Nnamdi Asomugha
2. DeAngelo Hall
3. Stanford Routt
4. Fabian Washington
5. Chris Johnson
6. John Bowie

S

Depth:

1. Michael Huff
2. Gibril Wilson
3. Hiram Eugene
4. Stuart Schwiegert
5. Jarrod Cooper
6. Rashad Baker

LB

Depth:

1. Kirk Morrison
2. Thomas Howard
3. Robert Thomas
4. Sam Williams
5. Isaiah Ekejiuba
6. Ricky Brown
7. John Alston

DE

Depth:

1. Derrick Burgess
2. Jay Richardson
3. Tommy Kelly
4. Sam Williams

DT

Depth:

1. Tommy Kelly
2. Gerrard Warren
3. Terrell Sands
4. William Joseph
5. Josh Shaw

Special Teams

• K – Sebastian Janikowski
• P – Shane Lechler
• LS – John Condo

Analysis:

Although many in Raider Nation are clamoring for McFadden here, I think that the Raiders will have a tough choice to make between sitting at the fourth spot and picking Jake Long or McFadden, or trading back for more picks.  I know that Davis is more likely to trade up, but I really can’t see how he’ll pull that off this year. 

The more I think about it, the more I can see Jerry Jones and Al Davis making a blockbuster trade that enables the Cowboys to draft McFadden.  According to the chart, the Cowboys would be giving up both of their first round picks, a third rounder and a fifth rounder.  Since the Cowboys need very little to make a championship run, this could be a likely scenario.  Whatever the Raiders do, it’ll definitely be interesting.