The Oakland Raiders 2007 draft class added a lot of talent to the team, but the group of players selected in the 3rd round of that draft have created more question marks than contributions.
Jeff Little's article "Oakland Raiders Are Overcoming the Third Round of the 2007 Draft" does a great job of describing the Raiders third round and the impact on the franchise.
Quentin Moses was a complete whiff and Johnnie Lee Higgins may yet still develop. But the Raiders raised the stakes by making the deal to acquire the 91st pick from the New England Patriots.
The selection of Mario Henderson with that pick will have the biggest lasting impact for the Raiders in that round.
For the #91 pick in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft the Raiders sent New England their 3rd round pick in 2008 (which became #69 overall) and a 2007 seventh round pick, #211.
The Patriots selected Oscar Lua, LB, USC with that pick. Lua missed his rookie year with an injury and was released by the Patriots in February, 2008.
In the 2008 draft the Patriots traded away the #69 pick to the San Diego Chargers for a fifth round pick, #160 in 2008 and San Diego's second round pick in 2009 (projected to be around #60 overall).
The Chargers selected LSU running back Jacob Hester with pick #69. Hester was a teammate of JaMarcus Russell and the single biggest reason LSU coach Les Miles wasn't exposed as the idiot he is in the Tigers championship run last season.
Hester is expected to fill in the back-up running back role Michael Turner left in free agency this year.
The Patriots weren't finished trading yet. In the fifth round this year, New England moved up to #153, trading the #160 pick and a seventh rounder, #238 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Patriots selected Matt Slater, KR from UCLA. Slater is the son of former Raiders OL coach and Hall of Famer Jackie Slater.
1 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Jeff Little 11 months ago
Excellent Read, Greg. Thanks for the props as well. I love the squad but in the draft I would enjoy seeing the team stop reaching for players. It could be the scouting department dropping the ball but the drafting has been lower than average.
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