Raiders’ Latest Draft Buzz Signals Franchise-Altering Three Days

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Stating the Obvious

The Raiders will enter next Thursday night’s draft with ten picks.  That is what they presently hold.

Here they are:

Anyone That Crazy?

"Who would be bold enough to make such a move?" Those are the words of an NFL GM at the owners' meetings in Phoenix earlier this month, when I asked him about the team asking to move up and get the Raiders' pick.

Since the season ended and the Raiders secured the number one overall pick, all eyes in the Raider Nation have been on potential franchise quarterback (QB) Fernando Mendoza.

For someone to acquire that pick from the Raiders, it would require a ridiculous offer, and one no one is expected to make.

GM John Spytek didn't even try to mask the reality when asked earlier this week about the pick and other NFL teams’ inquiring about acquiring it: "We've gotten a few calls, and those teams know where they stand right now."

For months, we have repeatedly reported that Mendoza is considered the best QB prospect in the last four drafts, and it is now probable that the Raiders will have their sought-after signal-caller.

Palace Intrigue

With the aforementioned ten picks, the Raiders have voluminous capital. That affords them the opportunity to trade some of those picks to desperate teams. It also gives them the ammunition to move up for a player they feel they can’t let slip by based on value.

Spytek addressed the process of when they are on the clock, and the description reads like a Hollywood sports movie.

"I think it starts with 'Are we going to make the pick?' And if there's a player that stands out that we feel it's not worth losing, it's not worth even picking up the phone, then we'll just make the pick. But if it's a player that we're not as excited about, or there's a group of players that we would love to pick from, and we can get value for that, then certainly open to listening to that.”

Reality

When this draft is over, I will be shocked if the Raiders use only the 10 picks they hold today.

Numerous NFL sources have told me that not only are other teams asking the Raiders about various picks and players currently on the roster, but that the Raiders are investigating others as well.

One pick garnering enormous attention around the NFL is the Raiders' No. 36 overall selection, their second-round pick, and it could create a feeding frenzy.

While this is not a top-heavy draft full of franchise quarterbacks and “Dudes” (Term used for can’t-miss prospects), it is loaded with enough talent that several first-round-graded players are expected to slip into the second round due to the enormity of bad drafting by franchises.

Spytek is ready for the frenzy, knowing his team has holes in nearly every position.  Should teams draft well, he will be ready to pounce back up into the first round, and should they stay true to form and many pick poorly, trade back, and garner more valuable picks, he will be sure to bring in future contributors.

The Raiders have invested millions into the best scouting department in the NFL, and they are ready for any scenario in any round.  Spytek already admitted it.

“There's plenty of first round picks that don't make it, and there's plenty of seventh-round, sixth-round players that do. So, it's all about us evaluating the character of the player first, and then evaluating the skill set and how they fit into specifically what we're looking for and what we're asking those positions to do. So, we feel like we can find value all through the draft. So, we put a lot of emphasis on all those picks."

Something To Watch for

Ty Simpson, the QB from the University of Alabama, is a wild card in this draft.  For months, the best and most proven NFL people have said he would get picked in the first round, even though none of them privately think he should.

That doesn’t mean he won’t succeed in this league, not at all, but as one GM said, “Bad teams are bad for a reason.  They take unnecessary risks and take guys not where they are valued, but where they want them.”

He added, “That is why we see the same teams, year after year at the top of the draft.  Sure, they hit on a pick here and there, but they miss far more than they hit.  The higher the pick, the more you can’t take risks.  That is why you take the best player available, and worth that slot, and that money, bad drafters draft emotionally.”

If Ty Simposon, among others, goes in the first round, and he is expected to, that means a more valuable player is slipping down, and all that does is take a team finally committed to doing the NFL Draft the right way, like the Raiders, and make their picks more valuable.

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