An Interesting Look at the Raiders' Recent Drafts

[SteelersCanada]

I was talking to a buddy of mine about the offseason and draft and we're pretty excited about it. Granted, we were going into hour three of our lecture and were bored to tears and watching the paint on the wall would've made us both excited, but hey, that's a little besides the point right now.

He's a huge Raiders fan so he's been excited about the draft since September (his words - not mine). What I thought was most interesting, though, was when he started ranting on about who the Raiders could've had and what kind of team they could've had. I originally thought he was just delusional due to said lecture, but then he started name dropping on me and I was a little bit taken back.

2003 Draft - Pick 31

Who they picked: Nnamdi Asomugha
Who they should've picked: Nnamdi Asomugha

2004 Draft - Pick 2

Who they picked: Robert Gallery
Who they could've picked: Phillip Rivers, Larry Fitzgerald and Ben Roethlisberger.

2005 Draft - Pick 7

Traded the 7th overall pick to Minnesota (? I'm not 100% sure on this so a Raiders fan is going to help me out here)
Who they could've picked: DeMarcus Ware

2006 NFL Draft - Pick 7

Who they picked: Michael Huff
Who they could've picked: Haloti Ngata, Jay Cutler

2007 NFL Draft - Pick 1

Who they picked: JaMarcus Russell
Who they could've picked: Calvin "Megatron" Johnson, Jr.

These are the drafts that I think are the most interesting. From 2003 to 2007, they selected one Pro-Bowl player in the first round - Nnmadi Asomugha. He's also no longer on the team. Here's what's more interesting, though: Here's what the Raiders could've looked like -

Scenario 1: Ben Roethlisberger, DeMarcus Ware, Haloti Ngata and Megatron
Scenario 2: Larry Fitzgerald, Megatron, DeMarcus Ware, Jay Cutler

Both of these are insane - Ben Roethlisberger throwing to Megatron with Run DMC in the backfield? Man oh man. Then, if that wasn't good enough, Larry Fitzgerald and Megatron on the same team? It doesn't matter who the QB is, those two on the same team is ridiculous. Cutler, Fitz, Megatron and McFadden is the best offense in football - bar none.

Now, the chances that everything falls the way it did is basically 0. I mean, the chances the Raiders have the first overall pick in 2007 despite having Roethlisberger is very low. But, it's interesting to see how, in a parallel universe, the Raiders are an absolute powerhouse and, in all likelihood, a dynasty. It's interesting to see who they went with and what kind of players they took. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 here but again, man, the Raiders could've been absolutely unbelievable if the cards fell the way they did.

I can kind of see why he wasn't a fan of Al Davis.

[silver & black]

You just had to do that, didn't you?

Al's obsession with speed and DB's has killed us for the last decade. I'll give him a pass on Robert Gallery; EVERYONE wanted him and thought he was a can't miss pick.

It will be interesting to see what McKenzie will do with the draft, from here. I really don't think the Raiders will continue on this path of suck, now that Al is gone. I DO think it will be another two years or so before they get back to winning consistently. There is just too much Al baggage to fix before they can recover.

[NSMaster56]

Of course, due to cause and effect, if they had taken different players in 04 and 05 (Ben and Ware) they might have played better in 06 and 07 and still not landed Ngata and Megatron.

[harrison'samonster]

from everything I've ever read, the biggest issue the Raiders had during those years was the players who were on the team didn't want to be there. I don't know how you fix that.

[teegre]

The problem would have been, as they got those players, they would have done better... and not have been picking that high.

Truthfully, staying in the AFC West, the CHARGERS are the ones who should eb kicking themselves.

They had LT.
They had Brees.
They had Gates.
And, they could have had Fitzgerald...

...but instead, they got rid of Brees & drafted Rivers.

They would have had the BEST player at the four main skill positions in football: Brees, LT, Fitzgerald, & Gates.

Again, one bad pick (Rivers over Fitzgerald while exiting Brees) may have cost them multiple SuperBowls.

[IowaSteeler927]

Originally Posted by silver & black

You just had to do that, didn't you?

Al's obsession with speed and DB's has killed us for the last decade. I'll give him a pass on Robert Gallery; EVERYONE wanted him and thought he was a can't miss pick.

It will be interesting to see what McKenzie will do with the draft, from here. I really don't think the Raiders will continue on this path of suck, now that Al is gone. I DO think it will be another two years or so before they get back to winning consistently. There is just too much Al baggage to fix before they can recover.

Robert Gallery was such a disappointment. Great college player that just didn't translate as well to the NFL. Sucks, as a Hawkeye fan I loved watching Gallery maul defenders.

[JPPT1974]

Gallery had potential but really did not live up to it.