NFL Draft: Oakland Raiders Team Draft Retrospective

This article is part of a series that looks at each NFL team’s recent draft history with the hope of extracting information about the way they think and the players they value.

The analysis is limited to the past five drafts in the interest of relevance, and the first three rounds because that’s where most impact players are taken.

This entry will focus on the Oakland Raiders.

Draft History

In the past five years, the Raiders have taken the following players in the early rounds. Their positions and the rounds in which they were drafted are listed next to their names.

2006:   Michael Huff, S (1)

            Thomas Howard, LB (2)

            Paul McQuistan, G (3)

2007:   JaMarcus Russell, QB (1)

            Zach Miller, TE (2)

            Quentin Moses, DE (3)

            Mario Henderson, OT (3)

            Johnnie Lee Higgins, WR (3)

2008:   Darren McFadden, RB (1)

2009:   Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR (1)

            Michael Mitchell, S (2)

            Matt Shaughnessy, DE (3)

2010:   Rolando McClain, LB (1)

            Lamarr Houston, DT (2)

            Jared Veldheer, OT (3)

Breakdown by Position

Here is the number of players the Raiders have drafted for each position:

Defensive end: 2

Linebacker: 2

Offensive tackle: 2

Safety: 2

Wide receiver: 2

Defensive tackle: 1

Guard: 1

Quarterback: 1

Running back: 1

Tight end: 1

Impact

Michael Huff is an excellent safety who also offers some position versatility. Zach Miller is one of the better tight ends in the league. After two mediocre years, Darren McFadden broke through with an incredible 2010, rushing for over five yards a carry and contributing as a receiver as well. Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston both played very well as rookies, helping to solidify the Raiders defense.

Trends

The Raiders don’t show a strong preference for any particular position; rather, they seem to go after the best prospects that fit them.

Instead, two rather questionable draft strategies have defined the Raiders over the past several years. One is a reliance on certain physical metrics to evaluate prospects, at the expense of considering the player’s sport specific skills and psychological makeup. The two standout examples are QB JaMarcus Russell and WR Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Russell was a productive QB in college, and had one of the strongest arms in the league. The Raiders took him despite the fact that he was disinterested and had a poor work ethic, and they paid the price as Russell became one of the biggest draft busts of all time.

Heyward-Bey, meanwhile intrigued the Raiders with his astounding 40-yard-dash time, and they took him over much more polished receiver prospects. He, too, has been a huge disappointment at the pro level.

Luckily for Raiders fan, these were mostly the machinations of owner Al Davis, who has slowly been phased out of the personnel decision making in recent years.

Unfortunately, the other tendency of the Raiders is to part with their high draft picks in trades for veterans. They did so shortly before the 2009 season when they acquired defensive lineman Richard Seymour from New England; as a result, Oakland now lacks a first round pick in 2011.

2011 Outlook

While an 8-8 record is nothing to write home about, it’s a big step forward for the Raiders, who had been one of the worst teams in the league for years. Inexplicably, the team let go of coach Tom Cable, but at least they have something to build off of.

Oakland still has many holes to fill, but they face an uphill battle to do so without a first rounder. The greatest concern right now has to be upgrading the offensive line, which is respectable at run blocking but really struggled to protect quarterbacks Jason Campbell and Bruce Gradkowski.

They took a couple of tackles last year, and while the results weren’t particularly encouraging, they won’t give up on young talent that quickly. Rather, they’ll look for a replacement for guard and impending free agent Robert Gallery. Stefen Wisniewski (Penn State) is a great fit here, especially given his family ties to the organization.

The secondary will also need help, as star corner Nnamdi Asomugha and safety Michael Huff could also leave as free agents. The third round could offer some good solutions such as Brandon Burton (Utah) and Davon House (New Mexico State). The latter has the elite speed that the organization looks for.

Quarterback Jason Campbell looked pretty shaky in his first year as a Raider. While that could certainly be improved by fixing the offensive line, Campbell is also closing in on 30. Oakland needs a long term solution. They may pursue someone like Colin Kaepernick (Nevada) in the second.