Four who could be hometown heroes for Raiders

By Os Davis  |   Friday, April 10, 2009  |  Comments( 29 )

Oakland Raiders
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It’s the great American sports cliché: Every boy who picks up a ball to play organized sport dreams of someday becoming the headlining hero of the home team. Another, older, chestnut responds to the childhood dreams with “Many are called, few are chosen.” Going into the NFL draft, a few hundred still hold on to the dream, just a step or two away from the prize of a lifetime. A handful of these have always aspired to be Oakland Raiders; one of the following may realize the fantasy.

(And yes, that title should probably read “home-*state* heroes,” but with Los Angeles in a continued state of NFL-less ness, the Raider Nation may consider all of California outside of San Francisco proper as its capital. What? They have a team in San Diego? Hey, don’t tell the residents there, and they might not even notice...)

Jarron Gilbert, DL, San Jose State. Gilbert is big, strong, and apparently only getting better. Born in New Orleans, Gilbert came to football prominence playing high school ball for Chino Hills. In his senior year, he was a virtual stat machine at DT for the Spartans, with 52 tackles (including a whopping 22 for losses) to go with 9.5 quarterback sacks.

Already blessed with lots of intangibles – this guy stuffed the run, forces fumbles, and deflected passes regularly at San Jose – Gilbert got kudos from all combine observers for his improved speed, strength and jumping marks. Right now, Gilbert is projected as a second-rounder and Oakland should really snap him up if available at No. 39 overall. Unfortunately for them, the Raiders are reportedly not one of seven teams to have contacted Gilbert for a private workout.

Fili Moala, DT, USC. A few years advanced in age, the Buena Park native/Anaheim high school attendee originally applied to USC in 2003, but wouldn’t play for Southern Cal until 2005. No matter: By his senior year last season, Moala was a starter for the stud-laden Trojans and totaled 4.5 sacks.

The take on Moala’s prospects in the NFL are a bit mixed, however. Moala was the beneficiary of a 3-4 scheme packed with stars. At a listed 305 pounds, Moala may be too small to play the nose in the NFL, begging the question of whether he could switch positions. On the other hand, Moala was noted for his special teams play with USC (once blocking two field goals in a single quarter) and could prove an asset there as well.

Kevin Ellison, SS, USC. Ellison, born and raised in Inglewood, has seen a drop in interest lately. While he was recognized in his freshman year as a Pac-10 All-Freshman Team starter, by his senior year – despite still starting for USC – he was not named to the Senior Bowl.

Much of Ellison’s precipitous plummet was thanks to the knee injuries that sidelined him for four games in 2008, but reports from the combine are none too brilliant and one assessor described him as “a special teams player and a backup WILL linebacker.” It doesn’t look especially good for Ellison on paper right now, but that’s why we actually have a draft and camps, eh?

John Faletoese, DL, Cal Davis. Projected as a last-round pick, Faletoese could make one heck of a sleeper for the team with vision enough to take him. Out of (Carmichael) Jesuit High School, Faletoese was named Delta League Defensive Player of the Year. He closed out his college career with an AP nod to the Division I-AA All-America first team. Faletoese is well noted for his speed, stamina, and injury-free career thus far, but reportedly disappointed a bit at a pro day workout.

Regardless, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Faletoese in a Raiders uniform come opening weekend 2009, though he may have to back in through free agency. For right now, he and the others can hold on for just a tiny wait longer...
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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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