Raiders Not So Good at Drafting (Graphic)

[flaraider]

They appear to have really hit on Mack though. Carr seems solid. Gabe Jackson even got some reps last year.

If they are smart this year and end up with Leonard Williams, Kevin White, or Amari Cooper, they are probably headed the right direction. I know Leonard Williams REALLY wants to be a Raider so if he falls to 4 that's almost a guaranteed draft pick. Raiders are also in a GREAT position this year to trade down. There's a ton of 3-4 prospects in this years draft class and 3 teams drafting RIGHT after them that all need 3-4 OLB/rush personnel. Raiders might be able to snag a desperate team and get an extra 2016 2nd rounder or 2015 3rd.

Raiders kept running the franchise into the ground because they kept mortgaging draft picks for players/trade ups. That's not how you build a franchise. The good teams routinely trade down and stockpile more players to develop so here's a good chance for the Raiders to start that trend. They have some young talent on that team. Mack/Moore/Williams (if they land him via draft) is something you can build around on D. Likewise, White/Cooper, Carr is something you can build around on O.

Developing players, that is where the Raiders have been lacking for at least 20 years.

 

[cdumler7]

Developing players, that is where the Raiders have been lacking for at least 20 years.

I would agree with this. It is why you see so many players when they leave the Raiders actually go on to have some decent careers. Looks like they got some guys hired though this off season that will focus a little more on that part of the game.

 

[boltfan72]

Using hindsight of course, imagine if the Chargers had passed on the whole Eli/Rivers thing and took Larry Fitzgerald #1 overall in 2004. I absolutely love Rivers and wouldn't trade him for anyone but could you imagine 10+ years of Brees to Fitzgerald?

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Pattersonca65]

This graphic gets across just how badly the Raiders have drafted recently and how many terrific opportunities they whiffed on:

Think how incredible their team could potentially be now if they had just made the next pick instead every year...

Al Davis was responsible for the drafts and he is no longer there. Al Davis was too stubborn and egotistical to take advice from anyone else.

 

[Pattersonca65]

He wasn't always like that though. I've read a few articles about what he did during that time when he was backing up Favre and pretty much he completely reinvented himself as a quarterback. He was not a very technically sound player when he came into the league so he worked on his mechanics to make them perfect.

This is why I am surprised more teams are not doing what Green Bay did in giving a quarterback a few years to develop as I would say very few guys are actually ready day 1 to do any good and many because of so many failures in those first few years just can't quite hack it.

To be fair, alot of teams passed on Rodgers including the 49ers who had the number #1 pick that year and he almost fell to the 2nd round. I recall the thinking at the time with Rodgers was that he was a product of Tedford's system and that he was close to his ceiling coming out of college. Alex Smith was thought to have a much higher upside. Epic fail by many scouts

 

[gowazzu02]

No way Aaron Rodgers smug ass is half the QB if he goes to oakland.

 

[ducky]

No way Aaron Rodgers smug ass is half the QB if he goes to oakland.

He'd be dating Naya Rivera instead of Olivia Munn. But he would still be a really good QB IMO.

 

[cdumler7]

To be fair, alot of teams passed on Rodgers including the 49ers who had the number #1 pick that year and he almost fell to the 2nd round. I recall the thinking at the time with Rodgers was that he was a product of Tedford's system and that he was close to his ceiling coming out of college. Alex Smith was thought to have a much higher upside. Epic fail by many scouts

I think honestly it was a mix of right time to the right place for Rodgers. I do think a lot of rookies are expected to start day 1 and succeed and when they don't the pressure from fans, the media, and even coaching staff can really destroy some of these kids. I do think that there are players that if they went to another team and say had a year or two to ride the bench and develop could have had much better careers than being the bust that they were.

To me a guy like David Carr comes to mind where he went to Houston who had 0 OL help and just took hit after hit in that system. Now maybe he still fails elsewhere but years of abuse are hard to overcome in my opinion especially for the quarterback position. You start feeling players that are not there after a while.

 

[Pattersonca65]

I think honestly it was a mix of right time to the right place for Rodgers. I do think a lot of rookies are expected to start day 1 and succeed and when they don't the pressure from fans, the media, and even coaching staff can really destroy some of these kids. I do think that there are players that if they went to another team and say had a year or two to ride the bench and develop could have had much better careers than being the bust that they were.

To me a guy like David Carr comes to mind where he went to Houston who had 0 OL help and just took hit after hit in that system. Now maybe he still fails elsewhere but years of abuse are hard to overcome in my opinion especially for the quarterback position. You start feeling players that are not there after a while.

Probably best for Rodgers he wasn't drafted by the 49ers or Raiders that year. I agree. Really bad teams are under alot of pressure to start their young QBs before they are really ready. Bill Walsh was smart enough not to do that with Montana. I remember Elway being thrown in too quickly and really struggling.

 

[cdumler7]

Probably best for Rodgers he wasn't drafted by the 49ers or Raiders that year. I agree. Really bad teams are under alot of pressure to start their young QBs before they are really ready. Bill Walsh was smart enough not to do that with Montana. I remember Elway being thrown in too quickly and really struggling.

There are very few guys ready day 1 for such a complicated position. Luck is the only guy of the last probably 20 years I thought looked completely pro ready day 1. Now others have had success obviously but I do think the teams that look to the future of the position and try to develop somebody for a year or two fair better. Brady was given a year then was put into a very quarterback friendly system where they focused on good defense and running the ball. I don't think Tom Brady is who he is without that year to develop and being on the team that he was. Philip Rivers is another given time to develop. You look at most of the top quarterbacks in the league and they were guys actually given that time to develop. Manning obviously started right away but beyond him you have Rodgers and Brady considered part of that top-3 then Rivers is right on the edge of the top-5. So you could argue over 60% of the best quarterbacks in the league were ones that did not start year one.

 

[gowazzu02]

There are very few guys ready day 1 for such a complicated position. Luck is the only guy of the last probably 20 years I thought looked completely pro ready day 1. Now others have had success obviously but I do think the teams that look to the future of the position and try to develop somebody for a year or two fair better. Brady was given a year then was put into a very quarterback friendly system where they focused on good defense and running the ball. I don't think Tom Brady is who he is without that year to develop and being on the team that he was. Philip Rivers is another given time to develop. You look at most of the top quarterbacks in the league and they were guys actually given that time to develop. Manning obviously started right away but beyond him you have Rodgers and Brady considered part of that top-3 then Rivers is right on the edge of the top-5. So you could argue over 60% of the best quarterbacks in the league were ones that did not start year one.

Ahem,,, there was another QB in Lucks draft that was ready right out the gates. You may have missed him if you were looking Luck in the eyes, you need to drop your eye level a little.

 

[SomeGuy]

While I agree the Raiders have had awful drafts, you could put a graphic like that together for a lot of teams.

Wish someone would. That would be kind of neat.

 

[cdumler7]

Ahem,,, there was another QB in Lucks draft that was ready right out the gates. You may have missed him if you were looking Luck in the eyes, you need to drop your eye level a little.

I said looked pro ready not showed they were pro ready day 1. Wilson while having a very good final year in college I did question his transition to the NFL some. Many if not all did. He is a guy that still relies on his feet sometimes more than his arm it seems which is what he did some in college. Throw in many have to question anything coming out of Wisconsin that isn't an OL player in the sense that Wilson had some of the best protection and one of if not the best running games in all of college football to take some of the pressure off of him. So again yes I had some questions about Wilson entering the draft that year. Now obviously he has erased most of those questions with what he has done on the field. Luck though was a guy that just looked like a pro player while he was in college. The way he commanded the huddle, carried himself with the media, and of course most importantly his play on the field. I don't think many questioned whether Luck would be a success in the NFL and whether he was ready to play year one.