Carroll and beyond: A sampling of opinion on the Raider draft

By Os Davis  |   Tuesday, April 29, 2008  |  Comments( 26 )

Oakland Raiders
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"Coach” Anthony Carroll gave his assessment on the Oakland Raiders’ draft weekend on Monday here at RealFootball365.com, proving no exception in the crush to grade the silver and black's efforts. Carroll was a bit down on Al Davis and company, but every coin has two faces, right? There are two sides to every story, every rose has its thorn, and opinions are like, um, noses in that everybody’s got one.

So after busting out of Carroll’s virtual locker room yesterday, this writer took a quick spin ‘round the Internet to catch a feel for what other pundits and the ubiquitous buzz from Raider Nation were saying on the five new prospective Oaklanders; a little online clip art, if you will.

The verdicts are as follows.

Darren McFadden. Pro: “McFadden should help the Raiders put much needed points on the board, and give them a homerun (sic) threat that hasn’t been seen in Silver and Black since Napolean Kaufman (sic) sped through during the Clinton administration. Add in a rotation of Justin Fargas and Michael Bush the Raiders should be (sic) a near unstoppable force running the ball.”

Con: “Running back is really not a need for us. We have three running backs that rotated for us last year all coming back, and then we also have Michael Bush.” – actual pre-draft quote from Lane Kiffin.

Tyvon Branch. Con: “With KR/DB Chris Carr gone, Branch may be the man filling the void on returns next year. If not, this pick is a real head-scratcher.”

Pro: Says Branch, “I’m definitely a big special teams guy. I really like being on special teams. If they put me out there, I’ll go to work.”

Note: Wait a minute, he’s not related to Cliff?

Arman Shields. Pro: “[Shields] played very well against Vanderbilt in the 2007 season opener, quieting concerns about his ability to make the jump to the NFL. He's fearless going over the middle and fast enough to stretch the field.”

Con: “Speed only counts for so much, though. That lesson played out in clear fashion when the Raiders announced that they traded 2005 first-round pick Fabian Washington...”

Trevor Scott. Pro: “Scott has both great measurables (6-5, 256 pounds) and speed (4.63 in the 40), but comes from a struggling program with very little national exposure. The former tight end played in 41 games with the Buffalo Bulls (24 starts), and recorded 99 tackles, 19 sacks, 12 quarterback pressures and 28½ stops for losses. With 10 sacks as a senior, Scott ranked second in the MAC and 16th in the NCAA in the category.”

Con: “...not [among] the most athletically gifted players. Not many scouts thought this was a bad or good pick, but I just think it’s another typical Raider pick.”

Chaz Schilens. Pro: “Schilens is also apparently a willing blocker. In his combine question and answer session, Washington State defensive back Husain Abdullah listed Schilens as the player who hit him the hardest. ‘He got me on a good crack back,’ Abdullah said.”

Con: “Who?”

Overall. Pro: A-. The McFadden pick is a great gamble, although there’s a legit concern about whether the Raiders will give him the personal help he needs to succeed. Like the Jets (Gholston) and Atlanta (Matt Ryan), the Raiders took a player with huge boom and bust potential. However, McFadden has the biggest upside of all three. In fact, he has the biggest upside of any player in the draft and he could be a huge help to second-year QB JaMarcus Russell. Branch and Shields are desperate attempts to fill needs, but should make the team.

Con: McFadden will be the only memorable player to come out of this Draft for the Raiders, who did most of their offseason damage in free agency. Grade: C

Rounding 'em up throughout the year at RealFootball365.com

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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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CommentsComments: 26  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
01:50 AM
04/29/2008
Don't be so hard on the RAIDERS draft AC. Think about it the most productive new draftees are really free agent signings. Maybe...
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No.2
01:51 AM
04/29/2008
No, No it's Os the typical Pat's fan-sorry AC didn't mean to-well you know-you work along side of the guy...
No.3
dirkraider		03:08 AM
04/29/2008
thats great os. you just got paid to copy and paste the same chit i already read. i guess you were too busy to add your personal...
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