OAKLAND RAIDERS
Davis Learns New, Sensible Draft Tricks

Sometime back — maybe halfway down this deep dark mineshaft we Raiders fans have been plummeting for seven years, since poor Barrett Robbins' mental illness caught up with him, but good, in a Tijuana bar — Al Davis pointed out, quite rightly, that it is better to be successful than predictable. Only problem was, by that point in his epic career in football, he had himself become so predictable it was a national joke; when an owner/GM perennially and persistently drafts players almost entirely based on the so-called "measurables" of height, weight, strength and speed, they can only get away with it if they "Just win, baby."

Well, something funny happened on the way to the 2010 draft: Davis and the Raiders shifted gears, but good, picking sensibly tough and smart defensive players in the first two rounds. Both immediately made their mark at the team's first mini-camp in early May, with No. 8 overall pick Roland McCain impressively taking over the "coach on the field" middle linebacker position from now-traded "Captain Kirk" Morrison and big guy d-lineman Lamarr Houston being cited early and often as a young ruffian to watch for his gritty practice style.

Beyond playing it safe and earning the grudging admiration of the smug drafterati — with the exception of Mel Kiper, who was bitter they didn't pick his boy Jimmy Clausen — Davis saved his real surprise for day three of the draft's new "We Really Milk It" format. By trading a fourth-rounder for Washington [Racist Football Team Name] QB Jason Campbell, a journeyman starter respected everywhere outside of Dan Snyder's tiny brain, Davis was boldly admitting that the No. 1 overall pick (and attendant gazillion dollars) he spent just three years ago on JaMarcus Russell was a terrible, terrible mistake. (As of press time, Russell was still on the roster, raising the question of whether, at $9.45 million, he might become the highest-paid third-string quarterback in the history of the universe.)

Of course, all of this sense and sensibility emanating from the Raiders war room led every wag with a wi-fi connection to light up the forums with "Who tied up Davis and threw him in the closet?" These jokers were only encouraged when the Raiders started making more typical Davis picks after the first few rounds, allowing them to leak "insider" information that the geriatric general had been drugged for the first few days of the NFL's human trafficking auction and was now being told Round 4 was Round 1 — where he promptly grabbed a crazy fast Maryland project for the second year in a row (combine stud OL Bruce Campbell), then an unpolished track star in KR/WR Jacoby Ford.

That's not fair, though. Davis hasn't even made the pretense of hiring a GM since Bruce Allen left, and even if he let coach Tom Cable make these picks, that is a form of flexibility the Godfather has not usually been credited with. And you have to hand it to him: Even when he seems to be "reaching" with picks, they at least play positions at which the Raiders are particularly weak.

In fact, this draft definitely followed the "needs" most folks had identified for the Raiders coming off a 5-11 season: QB, OL, DL, LB, WR, KR. When you add in LB/DL tweeners Quintin Groves and Kamerion Wimbley, picked up in trades before the draft, and the demotion or departure of erstwhile starters RT Cornell Green (cut), MLB Morrison (traded), OLB Thomas Howard (demoted to second string), RB Justin Fargus, WR Javon Walker and d-linemen Greg Ellis (cut) and Gerard Warren (cut), it is clear the team was hardly satisfied with the status quo.

Under the unproven Cable, and deploying an offensive line that is still suspect, it is hard to believe the Raiders will win more than six to eight games this year. However, with a decent QB now leading the show (and last year's everyman hero Bruce Gradkowski backing up), we should be at least competitive in most games, and a wild card spot is possible if the defense plays up to its potential.

In other words, we may have finally hit bottom and can now begin the long climb back up to the surface.

Christopher Scheer notes that the Oakland Unified School District budget shortfall for this school year is $39 million, the same amount Al Davis guaranteed a 20-year-old fur-and-bling-loving JaMarcus Russell.