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Defensive line and wide receiver. O-lineman are tough to draft so might be good to pick up a veteran player from somewhere. I would trade Justin Fargus and draft pick for Antwon Bolden if the Cardinal could be enticed to do so. We need a sure bet in wide receiver and besides Steve Smith of the Panthers, Bolden is the best receiver in the game.

A Defensive End to compliment Burgess (remember Howie Long and Greg Townsend?). I think their backfield will improve if they can keep "everybody" and improve their pass rushing. Obviously, a WR would be great and it would be nice if they can sign a free agent OL and a proven receiver. If they can do that and If Al can assemble a solid coaching staff and be willing hire a general manager to "help" him out, the Raiders will be atop the AFC west within two years.

In response to Powderjock; We have to keep Fargus. That dude has more heart than anybody else on the team. He reminds me of Roger Craig. If the entire team had his heart, We'd be 9-7.

I think the Raiders need to establish continuity in the coaching ranks. The Raiders were exciting back w/Gruden and I think it made the AFC West better as a whole due to the competition. I think heading into the draft the Raiders need a WR that Russell can continue develop and grow confident through the course of a season and career. Maybe the most difficult challenge is Al Davis changing that culture but its relative to who he is. Good luck this upcoming draft and the next coach to endure his leadership.

I'd like to see the Raiders draft Michael Crabtree out of Texas Tech but who knows if he'll be available @ #7.

Has to be a WR. The QB (with proper coaching and mentoring) and RB's are in place. Draft a WR in the first round then work on the lines and maybe another WR in the later rounds. The Raiders are not far off from returning to the playoff, especially in the weak AFC West.
It will still be very interesting to see who Davis gets for HC next season.

Mike Shanahan

So you think our Safety positions are solid then?

Trade Fargas for picks for one thing. Yes he has a lot of heart, but he's also the least talented of the RBs. The other two plus Rankin will get the job done.

As to the rest, they need so much it's hard to know where to begin. Certainly the OL needs help but it remains to be seen what free agency will bring, or if Mario has actually turned into a decent player.

The D has been a disaster for years and one common denominator in this has been Ryan. If they replace him with someone good how much will that help? The fact that the run D stinks every year does not reflect well on the entire front seven. I like Scott, Burgess and Morrison; the rest are replaceable. Thomas has the tools but does not impress me in the run game. He may be better suited as a pass rusher in a 3-4. And as always - a saftey.

Once the dust settles with free agents only then will we now the remaining pressing needs.

alwayzar8r is right Fargas is a team leader and hes the one guy that the young guys go to for advice! We should keep all 4 Runningbacks though because Fargas is getting old and he has never gone a full season without being on the injury list.

our o-line is a joke even though Mario Henderson is like a Promising Tackle.Robert Gallery is a bust since we drafted him remember we drafted him to be our left tackle no a guard!!! and the rest of the line is full of old players.I say we look at Free Agency for our Offensive line.

as for our Wide Receivers Johnnie Lee Higgins will be good give him 2 more years and hell blossom into an NFL receiver,Im thinking hell be like our Marvin Harrison and Chaz Schilens Came out good at the end of the year!It still doesnt change the fact the we need an impact Player at the Position that Crabtree fella does look like a good selection with the 7th overall pick.

and Safeties I think Michael Huff is a bust but in Part since he was playing SS he should have never been a SS He should have came as FS since we drafted him I blame the coaching on that one.

as For the Draft I say we Go WR in the first round OL in the 2nd and 3rd rounds DT in the 4th and 5th rounds and Safeties in the final rounds

How about drafting a new owner? Most of Oakland's problems would either go away or at least diminish considerably if the owner were a different person or if he were to be out of the picture as far as personnel decisions were concerned.

The Raiders would NEVER draft Crabtree because he is too Slow . He Runs a 4.6 40 yd dash. Al Davis Will draft Speedster WR Jeremy Maclin of the Missouri Tigers who is a game breaker. Any real long time Raider fan knows this already. AL DAVIS LOVES SPEED !

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I doubt a rookie could shore up the other side any differently than Huff, Wilson, Baker or Eugene. Sure we could use some help there, but experience would be better. We have some talented guys - its better coaching we need. Ryan needs to go. Like I said in previous post, Cable shouldn't be hired either. He's not even Callahan really - He's Joe Bugel 2.0

How tall is Maclin?

Wide receiver corps needs strong breakout player, Crabtree, Nicks, Heyward-Bey, one of these 3 should be available at #7. More pickings avail at T/G after Smith & Oher, without a great drop off in talent. DE/DT with 3rd pick focus on size, aggressive talent & strength, smarts to handle run or pass, room to grow. Would love Laurinitas but without trade up don't think it's possible he could fall to us in any round but the first, which should be the star WR pick without ?. Be sure "cable guy" & his cronies are long gone over the bridge 1st.
Al is the only genius the could have made this possible, to acquire this kind of talent over a few years of sacrifice. Now he can pick the right GM & Coach we can return to the glory days with a vengeance. Denver???s new coach ..."cable guy"!!!

Maclin is about 6' 1" and is a supreme athlete and game breaker. The Raiders will take him first and cut the dead weight off the team making cap room to sign left OT Jordan Gross who is a FA. In the 2nd round look for the Raiders to draft speedster WR Darrius Heyward Bey from U Maryland. These 2 big time weapons can grow on the job with Russell . Al Davis cannot fix all the teams problems in one draft or one FA offseason. Face reality ! By making these moves he will make Russell happy and the team will score way more points than in 2008. Don't forget every time the Raiders draft an O lineman or DE really high in the draft they always become busts. The Raiders scouting system is one of the worst in the NFL. It is not modernized or up to date and AL Davis puts a minimal amount of money into the scouting system. For the Raiders to come back from the dead they have to build through the draft and hire big time scouts and get a top notch GM. AL Davis will be 80yrs old on July 4th 2009 and can't do it alone. He needs a sharp, young, crew of guys around him that he can trust, not losers like Lane Kiffin. Remember AL Davis is an old time AFL guy who loves wide open football and big time offenses. The Raiders need big time play makers and game changers, stud WR's not late round value picks at such a crucial position with a young QB who has the best arm in the NFL. What he should do is hire HOF QB Warren Moon the BEST BLACK QB EVER to coach Russell . Then you will see Russell become a Raider legend in a high powered offense. Moon can be his QB Guru and mentor helping grow by leaps and bounds at the QB position. Russell did a decent job in his Rookie starting year in 2008 with no help except Zach Miller. Imagine what he can do with Maclin and Bey for years to come .

The first pick should be Rey Maualuga or Taylor Mays.then address ol and wr.remember you win with defense and both these guy are run stoppers who have the speed to cover any rb or te in the league.Al should hire a real gm and a draft coordinator and stop wasting our draft picks like he has in the last four drafts.Make us proud again Al and step down or die.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!! Take Taylor Mays or Rey Maualuga with the fist pick and address OL,WR,DL with rest.Hire a real GM not one of AL's puppets and a player personnel director who can get a few hidden gems to get us over the top.Fargas has earned the right to be a Raider and if we could find a few more that play with his passion it would pay big dividends.Keep morrison,aso, miller and any other player who plays with desire and get rid of Al's scholarship players who have been the problem with this team for the last 5 years.Better yet step down Al your time has passed,let some body with a pulse run this team.

How about drafting a new owner huh?

Maybe we could trade the draft pick for Bill Belichick :) Al Davis would take a more hands off approach if he felt he had the coaching and GM in place that could do it effectively. As far as Fargus, he definately has heart, which is why he is good trade material, Bush and McFadden have the talent and heart, just need the opprunity to prove it on a team that isn't loosing 11 games a year. When there is this much talent on a team, you have to blame the coaching for the results, just unfortunate Al didn't let all the staff desisions be desided by Kiffin. If he had the power to hire and fire his own staff we would've been able to see what he was fully capable of, fully accountable then for success and failure. Hopefully whoever comes in next will be able to do just this.

I only have confidence that Al will overpay for used up talent. A team filled with the fastest people who arent the best players, typical for the last 20 years. I loved what the Raiders were, not what they are. I really don't see how they can do better than the most dysfunctional Lions, I fear next years team will be as bad. JR is way overpaid, and may only end up being the second coming of Vince Young.