With the 7th pick in the draft the Oakland Raiders drafted WR Darrius Heyward-Bey out of Maryland. The knock on Heyward-Bey is that he has questionable to poor hands, which is great when you have a QB who has questionable to poor accuracy, and that he tends to take plays off. What Darrius Heyward-Bey does bring to the table is gamebreaking speed and skills.
Obviously Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders drafted this kid because he ran a 4.30 40 and that was the fastest time at this years NFL combine but how can you justify this pick when WR's Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin were still there and so was tackle Eugene Munroe? If Al Davis wanted this kid so badly he shoulda just traded down and picked up some more picks in the draft because you know the Raiders have a lotta holes to fill. If the Raiders didn't have anybody to trade with and they picked "their" guy then you have to respect that.
From the highlight clips I've seen and the reports I've read about Darrius Heyward-Bey he does have explosive speed and he doesn't shy away from contact which if you want to look at things positively he does at least sound interesting. Check out the video below to see some Darrius Heyward-Bey highlights.
Like I said the guy is explosive so he's inteersting but it was stupid to take him that high in the draft if there were trade partners available. The smart thing to do was to trade down with someone and get some more picks but this is why the Raiders have sucked for the past few years... because they don't capitalize in positions like these.
Heyward-Bey is somewhat interesting because of the cannon that Jamarcus Russell has attached to his shoulder and the fact that he played in a pro style offense at Maryland but someone should've reminded Al Davis that the Raiders don't have a legit Left Tackle and their offensive line has been near the bottom of the league in quality the past few seasons. If you want to throw deep you probably want to protect your Quarterback...
In listening to Head coach of the Oakland Raiders Tom Cable it really seems like he had a good plan going into the draft though. So he either did a great job of selling this or he really believes in these picks. Cable says he was looking to draft WR's, DE's and a TE and that he also wanted to address the run defense. And most of all Cable really seems like he was intent on drafting high character, hard working guys. I think that's great especially for this team which really seems to lack a good work ethic.
A lot of folks have questioned the 2nd pick of the draft of the Oakland Raiders Ohio State safety Michael Mitchell but Cable feels that the hard hitting safety will have a big impact on the Raiders run defense. And what nobody wants to talk about is that the Chicago Bears had already called Mitchell and told him they would be picking him up a couple of picks later. Mitchell is definitely a hard hitter and maybe he can have the kind of impact on the Raiders defense that safety Bob Sanders has had on the Colts... Check out his video below.
3rd round pick Defensive End Matt Shaughnessy out of Wisconsin is 6'6 and 250 and is seen as a tireless hard worker. This guy was constantly making tackles behind the line of scrimmage for Wisconsin.
4th round pick WR Louis Murphy out of Florida was considered by some draft experts as the best deep threat in the draft. Tom Cable likes the fact that he played the outside WR position in the spread offense at Florida which translates a little better to the NFL.
4th round pick LB Slade Norris out of Oregon State - "hard working and intense competitor" the knock on this guy is that he is undersized
6th round pick Stryker Sulak DE Missouri - another guy that is known for playing all out whistle to whistle
6th Round pick Brandon Myers TE Iowa - Raiders picked him up to be a physical, blocking tight end
The Oakland Raiders definitely went against the grain with this draft and for all of the Raider nation I really hope that first pick Darrius Heyward-Bey turns out to be the playmaker that the Raiders think he can be and that Michael Mitchell can improve their rush defense. Personally I have to admit when I first saw the results of the draft and after I heard what the draft experts had to say about the Raider picks I was really concerned but after watching some Heyward-Bey and Mike Mitchell highlights I can see what the Raiders were thinking. And best of all it seems like the Oakland Raiders are bringing in "character" guys that work hard and want to play and not just collect a check.
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