Yep, Oakland Is Going To Screw Up Your Mock Draft. Again.

So I was stuck in line at Subway behind two clowns dressed up like Snoop Dogg with the collective IQ of a pinto bean.

I slowly began to drift in and out of consciousness as they rambled on, "Can you cut my tomatoes in half?"  Visions of the upcoming NFL draft flickered through my head, providing me with a brief and enlightening glimpse of the greatest potential befuzzling move that could occur.

"How much does it cost to add bacon?"

It seems to me that every mock draft I have looked at so far fails to take into consideration one thing: Al Davis.  The O-town reaper is still alive and kickin' it, which means as I'm sure you all know, still calling the shots.

The question this year, really, is what kind of bizarre move is going to happen when the eighth team is on the clock?

"Let me call my sister and see what she wants..."

Lets try to recognize that this man has yet to find his marbles.  So far this off season, he has essentially hired an O-Coordinator whose teams have done well AFTER he leaves (which might be his best move for the future), held onto the wife-beater Tom Cable, and offered to give away his best player, Nnamdi Asomugha, for one year of Donovan McNabb.  I couldn't make up that last part if I tried.

"How many sauces can I get on my sandwich?"

If you think the eighth overall draft pick is going to be predictable, you are sorely mistaken.

This year I think the top seven should fall into place pretty smoothly.  I don't see major trade action like last year for Sanchez, meaning that it is all going to hinge on what Davis does.

"Oh wait, I forgot, can you add some spinach?"

What I do see happening is Eric Berry sliding down to the eighth overall slot, and let me tell you what Al Davis is likely to do.

With the 8th overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders have selected: Taylor Mays, S, University of Southern California.

"Can I get..." NO YOU CANNOT GET ANYTHING ELSE ON YOUR SANDWICH.  BUY IT AND LEAVE.

Its a bold prediction to be sure, but the pieces are in place.  Mays would have arguably been a top ten pick last year had he gone out.  He is a physical freak, but after a weak Senior season, his draft stock plummeted (somehow Bradford escaped that, which may be a sign of true talent?).

It would take someone like Mays to get Al's attention.  The guy's physical ability is more than impressive, and he is from USC (Al Davis loves him some USC), perhaps the last draft pick Lane Kiffin will not touch from Davis' favorite school.

Yes, the Raiders will screw up everything about your mock draft with that selection.  The pieces that will fall in behind, with Eric Berry slipping into the recesses of the top-10, are almost impossible to predict.

Do I know for a fact that Mays is the right call?  Not really.  I think there is a higher probability of the Raiders, a team that took Heyward-Bey over Crabtree, taking Mays than taking Berry.  But there are any number of players Al could go after.

Janikowski might be available at number eight overall.  Or Jamarcus Russell could be there.

I don't see the Raiders picking anyone who is ranked in the top ten of the draft class because people pretty much agree that those guys have a lot of talent.  Al Davis tries to avoid those types of selections.

It will be an interesting draft after that.  The Raiders at the draft are just like obnoxious people at Subway; they act like they've never been there before and they waste everyone else's time.

This year, for the sake of your mock draft, just throw in a question mark and try to laugh.