You Are On the Clock: Oakland

This is everybody's favorite team to rag on. I can understand why of course. They have the most fickle (and senile) owner in sports. Al Davis fired Lane Kiffin after 20 games as head coach, and instead of letting it go, he actually held a press conference and made a case against him. It was as if Mr. Davis needed to explain to everyone why he fired Kiffin. But would it really be so different then any other firings by Davis? Kiffin didn't produce right away, and Davis feels that should be possible.

So now the Raiders have basically reversed everything about their previous off-season. Javon Walker restructured his deal. Gibril Wilson and DeAngelo Hall are gone. Kwame Harris is long gone. Justin Fargas took a pay cut. Tommie Kelly took a pay cut. The Raiders are trying to reverse everything that went wrong a year ago.

Still, the Raiders haven't had a terrible off-season. Adding Erik Pears, Khalif Barnes and Samson Satele will be a huge improvement for the Raiders who run zone blocking almost exclusively on the offensive line. If one thing is clear, Al Davis loves the extreme, because his secondary is almost totally man-to-man (which is why DeAngelo Hall failed miserably and Michael Huff may get traded).

Now the big news early in the off-season was the 3-year 45 million dollar deal that cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha signed pretty much broke the market wide open. At that point, it became evident that the Raiders had screwed over the Titans, because there was no way that Albert Haynesworth would accept a deal for only twelve million dollars per season when there was bigger money to be had.

And Washington ate it up and gave Haynesworth what he wanted, and his agent is the guy who gets to say, "I negotiated the 100 million dollar deal."

Regardless, the Raiders are a team constantly in flux because Al Davis doesn't accept anything less than the best, but doesn't realize that he himself is a detriment to his team.

With that being said, Oakland isn't terribly far off if JaMarcus Russell pans out, but I have many many doubts about that.

Oakland Raiders Team Needs:
OT
NT
WR
DE
OLB
OG
FS

For Oakland this isn't going to be an easy selection. There are two very talented players that Oakland is going to be looking at hard, among several others.

1. B.J. Raji, NT, Boston College
This one is going to be hard for Tom Cable to pass up, but if Al Davis passed on Dorsey a year ago, I'm sure he won't be too bothered passing on Raji. While Raji is a superior nose tackle to Dorsey, the Raiders are in the process of building around JaMarcus Russell. They are giving him a terrific three-headed attack to run the ball and now they just need some receiving threats. Still, the Raiders would be doing the right thing in drafting Raji though. Their run defense has struggled badly the last few seasons, and Raji would slide in with Tommy Kelly and certainly help out the struggling Kelly. Raji would have more impact on the Raiders then any other player as he'd open up some major holes for the linebackers and force double teams away from Kelly and Burgess. The Raiders don't lack talent, just good coaching and stability.

2. Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
He's fallen this far after a disappointing off-season that included injury concerns and a poor combine weigh-in. Crabtree also doesn't necessarily fit what's best for Oakland's offense because he lacks the elite deep speed and height to go up for one of Russell's deep balls. On the other hand, Crabtree offers a serious upgrade to Javon Walker and Chaz Schilens. Russell has a lot to improve upon, and adding Crabtree could make him a more complete quarterback.

3. Michael Oher, LT, Ole Miss

While he's clearly not a top five pick like he was during the season, Oher is still a good bet to go in the first half of round one. He could easily go as high as the Top 10, and while Oher is a wonderful athlete he really isn't the best fit for a zone blocking system. Add in the questions about his football IQ and the fact that the Raiders already have signed Khalif Barnes and expressed major confidence in Mario Henderson (a mistake I think) it seems unlikely that the Raiders take Oher. Still, it's a definite draft day possibility.

4. Everette Brown, DE, Florida State

This would be a major upset pick if it happened, as Brown may not crack the Top 10 on draft day (though it is a legitimate possibility). Brown's combination of size and speed is one of the things that would have Al Davis running this pick up to the podium. Davis loves an athletic football player, and Brown's burst off the edge is unparalleled in this year's draft class. If Davis does fall in love, it could very well be Everette.

I don't think Oakland would be wrong to take any of these four players, but there is definitely a worst choice in my opinion. And he's the player I think Oakland will take. He's not the best fit, but if he pans out, he'll make the entire offense better.

With the 7th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft the Oakland Raiders select Michael Crabtree, wide receiver, Texas Tech.