The Oakland Raiders didn't have a first round draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, always a large hindrance to the success of your draft class to say the least. But they had to work with what they had, picking up some nice pieces along the way, filling some areas of need.
ESPN's Mel Kiper wasn't exactly ecstatic about their choices, but he didn't hate them either, eventually giving them a C- overall for their selections this year.
Top needs: DL, TE, WR, OLB, RB
Summary: Oakland was pretty anonymous in this draft. The Raiders didn't have a pick until No. 95, and then went with a guy I project as a guard. Tony Bergstrom started at tackle for Utah, but he'll need to move inside. Miles Burris has a chance to stick at OLB, and Jack Crawford could get better and develop into a starter along the defensive line. He needs experience. Not a great draft, but it's hard to do much when you have so few impact picks. I would have liked to see a flier pick on a tight end late.
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With the new regime in place in Oakland, perhaps they were trying to stray from the long-standing draft process of 'what's Al Davis going to do next' to a more steady-handed approach; especially with a brand new GM in Reggie McKenzie and the same in head coach Dennis Allen. They (hopefully) will have many years together to have excellent drafts, but they simply were a bit hand-cuffed this year.
In 2012, an even-keel draft was probably the best approach for the Raiders.
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