Raiders Worst Draft Picks In The First Round
To get in the spirit of draft season, I always like to remind myself why I hate draft season as a Raiders fan. We’ve had a dark history for picking busts and other questionable picks in the Raiders organization. Despite what others may think, we’ve draft better lately. However, there are some still very dumb picks. I always like to lower my expectations to get me fully prepared as a Raiders fan next season. Without further ado, let’s go into my sadness as a Raiders fan. Full disclosure, I’m only 24, so most of these are in the 2000s and 2010s
#5 Fabian Washington
There was plenty of contenders for #5. Gareon Conley and Derrick Gibson come to mind. Fabian Washington wins this one though. Fabian Washington only played 5 seasons and wasn’t good in that time frame. Although I will say he is nowhere near as bad as the top 3, this was just a wasted pick. Conely was a strong choice but his career is still relatively new and he could get back to the league, but if he isn’t 5th, he’s definitely 6th.
#4 Rolando McClain
Rolando McClain was not a bad player, that could be seen on tape. But they interview players, could we not have seen this coming? Could we not have seen that there might be some legal issues? That’s the only reason why he is here. If he didn’t have these problems, he wouldn’t be that bad.
#3 Darren McFadden
Darren McFadden will be the start of the trio of bad picks. It’s basically a rule of thumb that RBs in the first round are horrible value. We decided to one-up that and decided to take an RB 4th overall. Not only was it horrible value, he only played 2 or 3 years. He wasn’t bad, but he definitely wasn’t worth it. For perspective, Ray Rice went in the 2nd and Jamaal Charles in the 3rd. Sigh. Hindsight being 20/20, there was a lot of picks we could have made here as we had a lot of holes. Our next pick that year was in the 4th round, which there was still talent there. We needed a RB but one at 4 is just not it.
#2 Darrius Heyward-Bey
Darrius Heyward-Bey was horrible. Dude was the FASTEST person in the draft in 2009. DUDE COULDN’T CATCH A COLD COVID-19 TODAY EVEN IF HE WASN’T WEARING A MASK AROUND EVERYONE WITH COVID-19. He couldn’t catch shit. In fact, he was known as Dropa Hecka-Balls in Raider Nation. Straight garbage. He was the first WR off the board, WE HAD A CHOICE. DHB, 2nd the worst pick for me, horrible.
#1 JaMarcus Russell
3 rough years of drafting, and it started in 2007 with this pick. JaMarcus Russell is not only the worst Raiders pick, I would consider him the worst draft pick of all-time. He’s the worst bust of all time in the NFL. If the Raiders were going to be the best (or the worst) at something, I’m not surprised it’s in draft history. This screams Al Davis. Al Davis always had a fetish for athletic traits. I’m not saying JaMarcus Russell is athletic don’t get me wrong. However, he could throw 65 yards on ONE KNEE. The problem was that he couldn’t hit any WRs 6.5 yards away much less 65. Good God, this was a dark day and it was a mess. Al Davis, may he rest in peace, was just not what he used to be. I’m glad no pick will ever be worse than this that the Raiders could make, I need some other team to make a pick worse than this but I just don’t think it happens.
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