Oakland, Donovan McNabb, and the NFL Draft: What Are We Missing Here?

As much as the media has been playing up and down the Donovan McNabb deal, two questions keep resurfacing that make the Raider Nation uneasy.

The first one is obvious...does this mean that JaMarcus Russell just got tossed under the bus? Or does this mean that Al Davis wants another quarterback to show Russell how to do it, before McNabb's impending free agency next year makes the Raiders kick him loose?

The second question comes with the impending draft. Why don't the Raiders use the No. 8 pick on a quarterback that is presently coming around if Russell is truly shot?

I know the easy argument: The Raiders need offensive line help, defensive line help—heck, they need a new owner, it seems...but since they don't let us draft those...

In all seriousness, think about it. Could Al Davis bungle the quarterback pick twice?

Sam Bradford will be gone, without a doubt. Jimmy Clausen from Notre Dame is slated to fall after Oakland's pick, probably to the Buffalo Bills.

If the Raiders move back in the draft, they could grab Tim Tebow. Other names that spring up, it becomes more of a question of late-round usefulness, considering that sometimes Oakland takes a quarterback before moving him to another position. Ronald Curry, for example.

But the question remains: Do the Raiders want to move the trade down? Wind up picking up McNabb as a "father figure" for Russell? Or wash their hands of the matter, pick up a lineman, and let Russell and Gradkowski fight it out for the starter job in training camp?

If we don't see McNabb in Oakland, I'd say pick up a late bloomer in the third or fourth round. If anything, Oakland has a history of injuries, so an extra set of hands can't hurt...or we'll find Jeff Otis again.