Drafting Problems: The Raiders Have Questions To Answer by April 25

A couple of things that I love and hate about the draft:

You can get some good gold out there.

Or, you get players sandwiched and no one can get breakaway yards.

Take last year's draft as an example.

The lead pick had the Raiders select Darren McFadden, a stellar player from Arkansas who was well thought of in several circles. The odds are good that, if the Raiders didn't pick him up, he might have gone to New England, or another club.

Oakland, meanwhile had proved they had a good running committee in Justin Fargas, LaMont Jordan, Dominic Rhodes, and an untested Michael Bush as a wild card.

The Raiders stuck with a gut reaction, and McFadden brought his game to Oakland.

For what it was worth, he did have a great game against Kansas City and then would not get above 50 rushing yards for the rest of the season. Turf toe did a number, and while he did have 29 receptions, he wasn't the impact player we expected.

So, how does this factor in to the upcoming draft?

First of all, the Raiders have several glaring holes to address.

At wide receiver, the senior member of the rotation is Javon Walker. Last season he had a file full of problems and then was shut down injured.

The next set of players, like Johnnie Lee Higgins, Chaz Schilens, and Ronald Curry had a time, but Curry is now gone from the team.

So, a first option is finding a quality WR, someone to give us that edge for a deep threat, who fights for the ball, and matches well with JaMarcus Russell.

The second option, is someone on the offensive line.

This is a no-brainer, simply because our offensive line last year was hideous.

Cornell Green and Kwame Harris looked like revolving doors instead of linemen, and with Green's future in doubt, an extra player here wouldn't hurt. If he can play both tackle and guard, all the better.

The third option, is something that has been our weakness on defense for a number of years. Simply, we can't stop the run, not even if we stabbed someone.

Players like LaDanlian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, and others in the AFC West love to play us for this reason.

As far as that goes, teams like Buffalo enjoyed good games and even when we won against Miami in 2007, we still got riddled for long yardage.

Finding someone who could step up, fill a hole and pull the line together, would be a good addition.

For the wide receiver option, a lot of people look at Michael Crabtree.

There are questions about whether he'll be the same after his injury, but considering Michael Bush missed a year to injury and probably could have played last year, if he's on the board, take him. If not, Jeremy Maclin would work.

For the offensive line, Andre Smith has been mentioned, but i'm nervous about his work ethic.

Showing up overweight and then leaving the combine has a label of damaged goods about him. Past there, it's a question of how the top six picks in front of us pan out. Going with Michael Oher could work here, too.

As for defense, B.J. Raji has some good earmarks.

The skills are there and he would be a useful plus on our team. Another option might be to trade down and find Alex Mack, or look for another safety lower as well.

Personally, I would take a wide receiver. Fill in the holes later in the draft and if anything, the games will be high-scoring contests.