Oakland Raiders owner, Al Davis, long the controversial head of one of football’s most storied franchises was at it again over the weekend at the NFL Draft. He selected Maryland Wide Receiver, Darius Heyward-Bey, with the seventh overall pick. Heyward-Bey was the first receiver off the board, with the likes of Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin still in play. His penchant for speed took precedent once again, as Heyward-Bey posted the fastest 40 time at this year’s combine.
I’ve been hearing for a couple of years now that Heyward-Bey would be a top NFL pick and I have had several opportunities to watch him being an ACC guy. I’ve just never seen it. Sure he has elite speed, but never dominated games the way a top 7 pick should. He often disappeared and displayed questionable hands and route running. While speed is important in the NFL, it takes a lot more than to excel and justify top 7 duckets. Even if the Raiders did have Heyward-Bey at the top of the draft board, the value just doesn’t justify the selection. You could have traded down and still landed your guy. I know trading down is difficult in these cost-crunching times, but even you have to take a lowball offer to move down and you still get your guy, aren’t you better off?
Davis followed up the first round blunder by selecting Michael Mitchell in the second round. Most prognosticators had Mitchell as a late second day pick at best. Again, even if they had him rated that high, it’s still a reach and could have been had several rounds later. Davis has been quoted as saying he would not retire until he wins two more Super Bowls or dies of natural causes. Put the house on the pine-box.
