I was listening to Mel Kiper....April 10th

[RaiderInNY]

Chat wrap for April 10, he says:
-Alot of debate about Andre Johnson vs. Charles Rodgers, who is the best WR, no clear cut #1.
-NE wants a DT to pair up with Seymour and a RB.
-Troy Polamalu a top 15 player in the draft. Doss is 2nd best safety.
-WIllis Mcgahee, teams are concerned about what is a one to two year injury, Oakland in the 2nd or Houston in the early 3rd round, TB late 2nd or Philly late 2nd and even Tenn(very serious) late 2nd are very interested. (Those teams, TB, Tenn and Philly are ahead of us in the 2nd) ( Is AL going to take a shot at him in the 1st guys?)
-Bal. and Jax will take either Boller or Leftwich, which ever is available
-Alot of Cb's in this draft, 8 total corners possibly in the 1st & 2nd rounds.
-Musa Smith- complete back, lack of breakaway speed... 2nd round.( i think a sleeper)
-Chris Simms, early to mid-2nd
-Drew Henson, whoever drafts him retains him for a year, if no contract, he is eligible for next draft...He says Giants will take a chance on him in the 5th round.(stupid prediction!)
-Wayne Hunter to OAKland Raiders 32nd pick, Olineman Hawaii
-Boss Bailey,"work in progress, not a reliable tackler, is he a safety or LB" might go higher than what he should or thinks.
-Lee Suggs, 2nd or 3rd round.
-Redskins looking at safety, Mike Doss
-Raiders trading up? "troy polamalu ,be aggresive for troy polamalu".They like Wayne Hunter. Maybe William Joseph. They looking seriously at Troy from USC."will be a great raider"
-KC maybe moving down from 16
-Trufant and Newman, 1 and 1a at CB.
-Taylor Jacobs could drop far, Kelley washington also, Ty warren could slip...Dwayne White DE lousvile also, Calico could be available late 2nd.
-Troy Polamalu, ADam Archuleta type.
Any opinions, thoughts, anybody wants to **** on this scumbag Kiper. I find him annoying, but God does he know every f'ing player in this draft...I pile of **** knowledge that never gets used for any good but to charge people for his god damm draft books!

[Eastraider]

I like Polamalu but I just don't think Safety is our biggest problem. Now watch the guy burn me and become the 2nd coming of Ronnie Lott..........

I think that McGahee will go in the late 2nd rd. I don't think that Tenn will take him. Philly might though...they have 3 picks in the the first 2 rds and can burn one.

This guy Wayne Hunter seems to have come out of nowhere.....We do tend to stock OL......But I suspect that we will go DL and some wild card pick best athlete (S, OL, CB, WR, RB, or QB) with our other 1st rd pick.

[SoCalRaider]

Late word out here is that its a 3-way dog fight for McGahee. Pats have the inside track at #19, Eagles want him at #30, and the Raiders are the long shot at #32. Big rumor about deal moving Eagles up to #16 while Chiefs move down to #30 and still get DE they want. The snag is the Chiefs' concern that the Raiders will move up from #31 and grab DE as soon as they see the Chiefs move down to #30.

If Chiefs OK the deal, look for a classic duel between Pats and Eagles for McGahee. Pats want to go DL at #14, but if Eagles are going to jump, Pats may have to take McGahee at #14 and go DL at #19. Common sense indicates that the Eagles would trade up to grab DE at #16 considering loss of Douglas, but there is a strong suspicion that it may be a front. Ownership wants a McNabb/McGahee backfield and appears willing to trade up to get it...

****'s starting to get interesting. Who would have thought McGahee could catapault his ass to the top 15!!!!

[crizpynutz]

I like Polamalu a lot, but I agree safety isn't our main concern. That said, how about going to the future like this:

Buchanon
Polamalu
Gibson
Woodson

I'd put that foursome up against any other team out there.

Wayne Hunter is the real deal. He's from Hawii so he hasn't gotten much play, but the guy is a player sho-nuff. I wouldn't mind going after him. I feel Faine is a better pick only because I like his versatility to play C and either G spot, but Hunter would be a great pick. The thing is who's gonna play DLine? That means we'd have to pick up a DE in the 2nd/3rd round. We'd be looking for a steal. It's not a terrible way to go, but it could come back to haunt us.

[daraydaz]

While safety isn't our main concern, I think it comes right after our need for some DL. We don't really have much depth at the FS position and RWood isn't getting any younger and who's going to back up Gibson if he falters or gets injured again? I agree with NY Raider, I see Polamalu in the cards.
I'm not in favor of using a first rounder on an OL when we need DL help.

[crizpynutz]

I agree with everything except the OL stuff. How would we like this OLine going into the season:

Sims
Middleton
Treu
Stinchcomb
Kennedy

with Walker, Badger and some later round rookie

Personally, it scares the buh-jesus outta me. I agree that DE is our most pressing need. Safety is also a concern. But I don't agree that we can ignore the OL either, especially without knowing how, if at all, Big Mo and BRobb fits in.

[daraydaz]

Originally posted by crizpynutz
I agree with everything except the OL stuff. How would we like this OLine going into the season:

Sims
Middleton
Treu
Stinchcomb
Kennedy

with Walker, Badger and some later round rookie

Personally, it scares the buh-jesus outta me. I agree that DE is our most pressing need. Safety is also a concern. But I don't agree that we can ignore the OL either, especially without knowing how, if at all, Big Mo and BRobb fits in.

I can think of a lot worse in the NFL but all of the aforementioned are capable starters, not my dream team but certainly capable. I fully expect that we will have Mo or BRobb back. I think if anyone was going to grab Mo, they probably would have by now. We can pick up a decent center without foregoing a #1, like Al Johnson or Bruce Nelson who incidentally is versatile enough to play every OL position including TE. Brett Romberg is another solid mid rounder who can provide quality back up or start and can also play guard.

[crizpynutz]

If we have Mo and BRobb back, then yes, there is no need to go OLine early at all. I don't know the situation and Al and Bruce are far more knowledgable in that area than me. If they too feel both will be back then I doubt they will draft an OLineman.

You are right that I can think of lines that aren't as good as that one, but they don't play the dink and dunk ball control offense (and they aren't the Raiders.) The offensive line is extremely important to the success of the Raiders that I just wanted to mention that we shouldn't just ignore the position, especially if a blue-chip OL is available. Maybe the first round isn't the round to do it, but we will need to bring in a OL or two at some point in the draft.

[Eastraider]

Would KC trade the #15 to Philly for #30 and one of Philly's 2nd round picks? KC got a CB, and DE through FA and have 2 DT's coming back from injury. Their need positions are now WR, LB and possibly RB. So they might make the deal.

Philly needs a WR, LB, DE. Moving up will get them a good DE and they could still grab a WR or LB in round 2.

OK, the deal could happen, but Philly will not move up to take McGahee. They would get killed by their fans and they would not, in my opinion, gotten better for next year. Philly needs a WR in the worst way. And their D needs to be addressed.

NE has to have a RB now, not in 2004. They need a DL and OL. But I think that they will feel too much pressure to take McGahee that soon. They might gamble in the 2nd round though.

[SoCalRaider]

Original take by Eastraider

Philly needs a WR, LB, DE. Moving up will get them a good DE and they could still grab a WR or LB in round 2.

OK, the deal could happen, but Philly will not move up to take McGahee. They would get killed by their fans and they would not, in my opinion, gotten better for next year. Philly needs a WR in the worst way. And their D needs to be addressed.

You know, I don't believe McNabb was a popular pick with the fans either. Considering how well McNabb turned out, I would bet ownership wouldn't even think twice about rolling the dice on McGahee in the first round.

[RaiderInNY]

From SoCalRaider: You know, I don't believe McNabb was a popular pick with the fans either.

Dude your right, The philly fans booed when that choice was made, they wanted Ricky Williams! Everyone expected Ricky Williams!