Top 10 Oakland Raider Draft Busts of All Time

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I saw an article on NFL.com that inspired me to write one of my own.  Mine is the top 10 Raider draft busts of all time.  We've had some good draft picks and we've had some bad ones, but I came up with a list of the top 10 worst draft picks by the Raiders.  I've also included who we could've had with those picks instead.  You may disagree with my order, but they were put in order of what disgusted me the most. 

10. TE Ricky Dudley

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In 1996, the Raiders traded up to draft TE Ricky Dudley from Ohio St.  Dudley was actually a stand-out basketball player.  When with the Raiders, he was notorious for dropping passes.  We could've had MLB Ray Lewis who fell to Baltimore at No. 26 or FB Mike Alstott who slipped to Tampa Bay in Round 2 at No. 35 overall.

9. QB Todd Marinovich

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In 1991, the Raiders drafted QB Todd Marinovich No. 24 overall from USC.  This was a sad time in Raider Nation after Bo Jackson's career had ended in the playoffs the previous year and many thought Marinovich would be the savior of the offense. 

He came in in the 1991 season finale against KC and threw three TD passes in defeat.  He would get a shot at redemption in the wild-card round against KC a week later, but threw four INTs.  He struggled in 1992 and eventually lost the starting job to previous starter Jay Schroeder.  Brett Favre fell into the second round of this draft and would've been the QB to take (he might even just now retiring and we wouldn't have had to go through so many other QB changes over the years). 

8. DE Bob Buczkowski

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In 1986, the Raiders drafted Bob Buczkowski in the first round.  SERIOUSLY, Al Davis, what were you thinking?  You had stout starters in Howie Long and Sean Jones with Greg Townsend rotating in.  WHY DID YOU NEED A DE?  He didn't even make the team as a rookie.  He did manage to get in for two games in 1987 though.  We could've had WR Ernest Givins.  He would've been a much better choice here since we were a little thinner at WR than DE.

7. T John Clay

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In 1987, the Raiders selected T John Clay in the first round of the NFL draft at No. 15 overall.  He wore Art Shell's No. 78 with major disgrace.  He was the exclamation point on three bad first-round picks in a row for the Raiders.  Eight picks later went T Bruce Armstrong, who went on to have a stellar career with the New England Patriots. 

6. Safety Patrick Bates

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This guy really disappointed me.  The Raiders selected safety Patrick Bates at No. 12 overall.  I thought he was a stud at Texas A&M, but he only lasted two years with the Raiders.  The better safety of this draft ended up being Alabama's George Teague who fell to Green Bay at No. 29 overall, but with Howie Long and Greg Townsend nearing the end of their careers, Michael Strahan would've been a good pick here, but he went to the New York Giants in the second round. 

5. Safety Derrick Gibson

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In 2001, the Raiders selected safety Derrick Gibson from Florida State.  In Round 2, we selected QB Marques Tuiososopo.  Tui never found his game as a starting QB, and Gibson missed lots of tackles and was benched countless times early in his career and only recorded one INT.  Shortly after we selected Gibson, Drew Brees was selected by the Chargers.  Five picks after Tui was SS Adrian Wilson.  This was a very foolish draft for the Raiders especially in the first two rounds.  Brees would've groomed nicely under Gannon, and Wilson would've done a lot more than Gibson.

4. Safety Michael Huff

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Michael Huff was selected by the Raiders at No. 7 overall in the 2006 draft.  To me, Huff was the second coming of Derrick Gibson (or the third coming of Patrick Bates).  Safety was a need for us in this draft, but Huff was not a standout enough to be worth taking this high.  There were better players at other positions of need that we could've taken.  Huff was no different than Gibson.  We could've had QB Jay Cutler or DT Halotai Ngata.  Another choice would be LB Kamerion Wimbley and he actually ended up becoming a Raider in 2010.  The better strong safety of the draft ended up being Roman Harper who fell to the Saints at No. 43 overall in Round 2.

3. QB Eldrige Dickey

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In the first round of the 1968 NFL draft, the Raiders selected QB Eldrige Dickey.  Al Davis gets his picture on this one because Dickey is the man Davis wanted to be the future franchise QB when Daryle Lamonica retired.  Dickey is often forgotten about when talking about first-round Raider draft busts because in Round 2 Davis allowed Madden to take his choice for the future starting QB Kenny Stabler.  It's really hard to say who we could've had because besides Stabler, the Raiders ended up with three other commemorative players in this draft: DB George "The Animal" Atkinson, RB Marv Hubbard and HOF T Art Shell. Since we ended up with our franchise QB in Round 2,  I will have to say that the player I would've taken would be DB Charlie West.  Some of you fans who were around back then may have a choice that differs from mine.

2. Randy Moss Trade

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In 2006, the Raiders traded No. 7 overall and former first-round pick LB Napolean Harris to the Minnesota Vikings.  There were no real winners in this trade because Harris didn't last long with Minnesota and Moss never lived up to expectations for the Raiders.  As for the draft pick, the Vikings used it on WR Troy Williamson who was a bust for Minnesota.  We could've used the pick on one of two oustanding defenders named Shawn Merriman or Demarcus Ware.  There was also a solid OT named Jammal Brown who went to New Orleans. 

Extra fact: We traded TE Doug Jolley to the Jets for the No. 23 overall pick and surprise, surprise, Al Davis used it on the fastest corner in the draft, Fabian Washington.  I thought Washington was a decent player, but his trouble with Lane Kiffin is what got him shipped off.  However, right after Washington was local Bay Area favorite QB Aaron Rodgers from Cal.  I think most of Rodgers's success is because he groomed under Brett Favre. 

1. QB Jamarcus Russell

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And No. 1 of course is my cover boy Jamarcus Russell.  Russell was drafted No. 1 overall by the Raiders in 2007.  He held out of camp his rookie year for a contract that guaranteed him $35 million.  However, he was nowhere near close to expectations.  He was Al Davis's golden child until Tom Cable benched him in 2009.  He recently had a foreclosure on his $2.5 million home (which sounds like pocket change to me if you earn $35 million in three years).  He was often late or not in attendence at team meetings and loafed in practice.  There were times he often tried to portray an image of Mr. T.  Our team was so bad this year (hence the reason we selected No. 1 overall), it seems like anybody would've been better than Russell...OT Joe Thomas, WR Calvin Johnson, RB Adrian Peterson, LB Patrick Willis or CB Darrelle Revis.

I remember in his last year with the Raiders, he often made bad decisions like launching a long pass on 4th-and-short when all he had to do was cross the line of scrimmage.  He was also notorious for throwing into double- and triple-coverage while other receivers were wide open.