After Further Review: Worth a Washington

[AceRimRat]

After Further Review: Worth a Washington
or, Oakland chooses a receiver with a pick acquired by trade

April 27, 2008
By Eric “Ace” Strauss, Raiderfans.net Staff Columnist



NEW YORK — The Raiders had only five draft picks going into the weekend. They still have only five picks, but after some wheeling and dealing today, Oakland wound up with two fourth-rounders instead of two sevenths.

With the second of those picks, the Raiders found 2007 top pick JaMarcus Russell another weapon, choosing Richmond wideout Arman Shields.

Earlier in the round, the Raiders dealt their seventh-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys to move up from 104th to 100th — the first pick of the fourth round — and select defensive back Tyvon Branch of Connecticut.

That enabled them to trade disappointing 2005 first-rounder Fabian Washington, who lost his starting job at cornerback last season, to Baltimore for the 125th overall pick, 27th in the fourth round.

That was the pick they used for Shields, who missed most of his senior season with a torn knee ligament, but “performed incredibly well in Combine testing,” according to Pro Football Weekly, “finishing at the top of the WR group in most agility drills.”

Shields caught only 14 balls as a senior, but broke the 50-catch mark as a starter in both 2005 and 2006 after snagging 30 passes as a redshirt freshman.

Despite the PCL tear and an injury that cut short his 2006 season, Shields’ toughness was lauded by The Sporting News, which also said he “has outstanding hands and runs good routes.” TSN gave him only a sixth-round grade, however.

PFW also praised his toughness, as well as “big-play explosiveness.”

Ourlads’ Scouting Services called him an “outstanding athlete,” but nonetheless gave him a seventh-round/free agent grade.

The Raiders still have their own sixth-round pick remaining, the 169th overall, plus the Minnesota Vikings’ seventh-rounder, 226th, acquired from the New York Jets.

The Raiders traded their second-round pick to Atlanta this offseason as part of the DeAngelo Hall deal, their third-rounder to New England during last year’s draft and their fifth-rounder to Denver for Gerard Warren during 2007’s training camp.

So far this weekend, the Raiders have chosen:

• Darren McFadden, running back, Arkansas, first round (4th overall)
• Tyvon Branch, defensive back, Connecticut, fourth round (100th overall)
• Arman Shields, wide receiver, Richmond, fourth round (125th overall)

[cat444]

another ****ing loose pick as carlos francis, always ****ing wr and DB , i am tired

[Raidersabc123]

[D.O.A.]

Originally Posted by cat444

another ****ing loose pick as carlos francis, always ****ing wr and DB , i am tired

Well, we needed a KR and some Safety depth and hopefully we got that with Branch. We also needed a WR and we addressed that, as well. I don't see where your disappointment may be. We do need a DE. Maybe that gets addressed next or in FA. This off-season has looked very promising, thus far.

[Brixity R8R]

According to Sporting News dot com, Branch ranked better than some of the better known DB's and is a real good special teams guy. Shields was hurt for much of this year, but is a fast guy who's a pretty good route runner. So we can officially call them steals. After all we do need depth at both of those positions and they both have great value.

[Gridiron PIRATE]

I had high hopes for the 2nd day. All i get is this sinking feeling.

A CB as our 2nd pick overall in the draft... definitely last on my list of needs. Guess he can play safety as well... hope that versatility gives us help... can also play ST. Not really excited with the pick, i'll let him surprise me.

A WR... i guess. I wanted us to pick a WR, somebody young to grow with Russell. Hopefully this guy pans out and doesn't burn out like our other late round WRs & busted 4th round picks. Don't forget, we also got Chris McFoy, Johnnie Lee Higgins, and Johnathan Holland mulling around Alameda. One of these guys gotta pan out, right?

[Trouble]

The dissappointment lies in that year after year we take guys early who everyone else ranks two rounds lower, then they flop out, and we trade them in subsequent drafts for draft picks at the level our guys were originally ranked. We just trade Fabian, a first round waste for us, for someone that was ranked as a 7th round / FA pickup by most other teams. We didn't address defense, and we took a RB which is one of our few strength positions. Plus we took another corner with very good numbers, but no natural instincts.

[laxs69]

[tink2117]

I love it.Its all about the Washingtons baby.No more cap issues.Fab was going to be 4th on the depth chart at cb this year.So basicly he was going to be making millions riding the bench.
Both guys that we drafted are said to be better than some of the ones that went rounds before them.
7th round___________Marcus Dixon 6'4" 294lb DE

[abdul sultan]

i still higgins will be a good player, the WR we got hopefully pans out... speed both higgins, carter, sheilds have it on WR...
and with Branch we can improve our special teams which really sucked, with him and higgins returnng kicks gives us speed and Branch is a gunner in kickoffs as well, that should help our kick team....
all in all i dnt think we did that bad, we got an upgrade on O with mcfadden and shields hopefully as a threat to stretch the field, 4 or 5 wr. and helped our special teams in branch

[Jimi18]

older fans should know... we have not much money to load up on picks... we have most of.. if not all the starters, we are signing depth, all we need to do, is lose Jordan, and hope we get something for him.

thanx ACE

[Blindbat]

Idk i think this Arman Shields well be pretty good in a couple of years
he runs a 4.4 forty, benches 225 rep. 19 times, is third on the list of top receivers in his verticle jump with 37.5, and is second in broad jump with 10'8", also second in cone drill with 6.67, first in twenty yard shuttle with 3.96, and first in sixty yard shuttle with 10.78.

Here is his analysis:

Positive:Lanky frame with room for additional growth. ... Has the straight-line speed to challenge deep and is able to generate consistent separation from defenders due to his burst out of his breaks and effective upper body fakes. ... Reliable receiver who catches the ball with his hands. ... Hard-worker who takes his role as a downfield blocker seriously.

Negatives: Has to prove he has recovered from the knee injury that limited him to only one game in 2007 (Vanderbilt). ... Adequate physical tools in all areas, but may lack the special speed or burst to operate effectively against elite competition. ... Marginal quickness off the snap and can be re-routed with physical coverage. ... Struggled tracking passes over his shoulder.

[1stsfg]

Can he play OT? What about DT? DE? OG? NO. I guess we need more DB's and WR's. I'm sick of davis. SICK.

[Magnusblitz]

Shields sounds like the new Doug Gabriel to me. Big guy, reliable hands, can run fast in a straight line but has no quickness or side-to-side speed.