Oakland Raiders Draft: Why I Was Wrong About Darren McFadden

However, my biggest beef with the McFadden pick at the time that it was made was the fact that Oakland needed a lot of help at defensive tackle, and blue chip prospects Sedrick Ellis and Glenn Dorsey were there for the taking.

Oakland's current rotation at defensive tackle consists of the unproven Tommy Kelly, the average Gerard Warren, disappointing former Giant William Joseph, and of course Terdell Sands (need I say more?)

Kelly has the potential to be a good 3-technique pass rusher for the Raiders, provided he lives up to Warren Sapp's characterization of his abilities. However, Warren is a stopgap at best, and expecting Joseph to find himself in Oakland is very wishful thinking.

That said, Oakland's real troubles lie in their run defense, ranked 31st in the NFL last season. Oakland has a couple of decent pass rushers in Derrick Burgess, Greg Spires, and Kelly if he lives up to his potential.

Dorsey and Ellis, the only defensive tackles worthy of the fourth pick, are 3-technique pass rushers, just like Kelly. Drafting another rusher after giving Tommy Kelly the biggest contract for a defensive tackle in NFL history would have been redundant.

The only other player worth taking at the fourth spot was maddeningly inconsistent Ohio State DE/OLB Vernon Gholston, whose tendencies to take games off was a red flag heading into draft day.

Another argument that I've heard against McFadden details similarities between the former Razorback and well known bust Reggie Bush. However, McFadden and Bush differ in the respect that McFadden is known to seek contact and has been lauded for his aggression and durability, despite his seemingly unimpressive physique.

McFadden's mean streak and ability to stay up after initial contact is also often overlooked by his detractors, including me at one point.

I think that my conclusion about Oakland's draft was hasty on my part, and although its pretty safe to say that few people care what I think, I still felt the need to re-evaluate my stance on this issue, as I owe it to myself to keep what little journalistic integrity I have as a blogger intact. (Take that Buzz Bissinger!)

However, I still maintain that Oakland made a mistake in passing up big, run stuffingdefensive tackles like Red Bryant, Ahtyba Rubin, Frank Okam or Carlton Powell in the later rounds in favor of workout warriors like Tyvon branch, Armon Shields, and Trevor Scott.

All in all, I still dislike where Oakland went later on in the draft, but McFadden was not a bad pick by any stretch of the imagination. Not only was he clearly the best player on the board, but the other available players did not fill pressing needs, with the possible exception of Gholston, who would've been a great replacement at linebacker for mediocre current starter Robert Thomas.

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