Now that the draft is officially over, it’s time to sit back and reflect on what transpired over the last three days. Over at SB Nation’s NFL Draft blog Mocking The Draft, they’ve comprised who they feel were amongst the draft losers in 2011. And lo an behold, there were the Oakland Raiders.
Here’s how they felt about it:
Not much needs to be said here. The Raiders drafted speed as usual in Demarcus Van Dyke, Chimdi Chekwa and Taiwan Jones. Oh, Al Davis. The other pieces they added are nothing to get excited about.
Many NFL franchises have their own set philosophy about how they are going to handle the draft, and the Raiders are no different. Al Davis loves raw athleticism, and he sure got a lot of it again this year. Did anyone really expect differently? I know I didn’t. And there’s always hope, Darren McFadden is a perfect example. But could there also be a JaMarcus Russell somewhere in their draft choices this year? Possibly. Personally, I don’t think so.
The Raiders certainly don’t seem to mind the criticism of their drafting style, because they keep on doing it. Everyone knows it’s probably not the best course of action, but that’s what they do, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to change.