Al Davis/Raiders Prepare For 2010 Season With 2009 Draft

With the 2009 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders made several picks that left most analysts at Radio City Music Hall dumbfounded.

They began the festivities by reaching for speedy wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey with the seventh overall pick. This might not have been as bad had Michael Crabtree—the NCAA's only two-time Belitnikof Award-winner for best wide receiver—not been sitting there, undrafted.

Not to be out-done—by himself—Al Davis selected Michael Mitchell, safety out of Ohio. To put in perspective how terrible this pick was, let me tell you this: Mitchell wasn't even invited to the NFL Combine.

Another side note: Mel Kiper had him as the 73rd-rated safety.

The rest of the Raiders draft was spent reaching like an 8-year-old would reach for a cookie jar. They chose speed over talent, which shows why the Raiders have been picking in the top 10 ever since they lost the Super Bowl to the Buccaneers.

In the third round, Davis took Matt Shaughnessy, defensive end. Not surprising in the slightest, he was the end who ran the fastest 40 time at the combine. Also not a shocker, Shaughnessy is projected to be nothing better than a solid backup.

In the third round, Davis should be looking for potential starters.

Louis Murphy, picked in the fourth round, might turn out to be even better than Heyward-Bey. He is just as big, but is not the deep threat Heyward-Bey is.

That being said, Murphy was not that great of a college player. He just had a decent combine. He only had 38 catches for 655 yards at Florida in his senior season.

The 2009 draft for the Raiders sums up how much of a joke they are in the league. Al Davis needs to realize how terrible a drafter he is and hand the reigns off to someone else, someone who actually understands the 21st century.

The only explanation I could come up with is that Davis wants to derail his team in an effort to get the first overall pick of next year's draft, and have the luxury of taking one of the three finalists for the Heisman Trophy this year, including 2008 winner Sam Bradford.

If such is the case, he sure is doing a great job.