The good: Rookie GM Reggie McKenzie didn’t make his first choice until the final pick of the third round, the 95th overall selection, and he entered the draft with just five total picks. McKenzie had no chance to hit a draft-day home run, but he landed six solid players who should add immediate depth and help on special teams. McKenzie said he was looking for tough, smart, passionate and productive players who love football, not workout warriors and track stars. In the fifth round, for example, he took Arizona WR Juron Criner, who clocked just a 4.68 in the 40 but caught 157 passes for 2,189 yards and 22 touchdowns over his final two seasons. The Raiders would never have drafted a wide-out that slow in the past no matter how many passes he had caught. OG Tony Bergstrom, a third-round pick from Utah, could push Cooper Carlisle for a starting job this year and should definitely be ready to take over next season. OLB Miles Burris, a fourth-round pick from San Diego State, will compete for a starting job this year, coach Dennis Allen said. The bad: There likely won’t be a single 2012 draft pick who cracks the starting lineup this season. Penn State DE Jack Crawford, a fifth round pick, and Georgia State DT Christo Bilukidi, a sixth-rounder, didn’t play football until late in high school. Crawford, a native of England, and Bilukidi, a native of Angola, played basketball until switching to football. The Raiders didn’t add anyone to the mix at cornerback, a position that still needs an upgrade. And they didn’t draft a tight end, leaving them with no clear replacement for Kevin Boss. The bottom line: Considering what McKenzie had to work with, he did a solid job running a draft for the time in his career. He made one trade, moving back 10 spots in the fifth round and getting a seventh-round pick from Detroit, which turned out to be Penn State linebacker Nathan Stupar, the nephew of former Raiders QB Jeff Hostetler. Grade: C+
Analyzing the Raiders' draft: Final grade
Analyzing the Raiders' draft: Final grade
By
Eric Gilmore
•
1 min read