Pancake Blocks Mock Draft: Pick No. 4
Oakland seems like the first flashpoint of this year's draft. Al Davis could go a lot of ways here, and it will affect how the rest of the top-ten falls. Longtime friend of the program Stephen G has the honors.
With the #4 selection in the 2008 NFL draft the Oakland Raiders select: JAKE LONG, OT, Michigan
Possibly overused terms already, but simply put, Jake Long is the best player available and more importantly the SAFEST BET of all the top 5 picks (including Chris Long). Jake Long will be a franchise left tackle in the NFL for the next decade plus. He rates out on par or better than top 2007 Browns rookie Joe Thomas who was a resounding success last season.
Darren McFadden & Vernon Gholston were definite considerations due to their considerable upside, but both had question marks (McFadden - off field issues, Gholston - position/tweener and measureables more than production). Bottom line, McFadden would have been the sexy pick to excite Raider Nation for the short term but not the correct pick if the Raiders ever plan to surface above mediocrity.
The Raiders haven't had a franchise LT since Art Shell. And the protection of 2007 1st overall draft pick QB JaMarcus Russell is of utmost importance. Add in the offseason re-signing of free agent RB revelation Justin Fargas (1,000+ rushing yards in the new one-cut zone blocking scheme), the quality depth at RB (Rhodes, Michael Bush, etc.), and Jake Long is the obvious choice at #4.
2008 Pancake Blocks Mock Draft
1. Miami Dolphins (Scott L.) - Chris Long
2. St. Louis Rams (Evan Silva) - Glenn Dorsey
3. Atlanta Falcons (Troy Hill) - Matt Ryan
4. Oakland Raiders (Stephen G.) - Jake Long
Comments
Either way they go, hopefully the Raiders will get better. I'm not a Raiders fan but remember their glory days and it just doesn't seem right for them to be so bad. If they get offensive line help then Fargas is a decent FF play this year. If they get DMC, who knows about their RB situation. I guess they'd go RBBC with DMC and Fargas.
Posted by: b roo | April 3, 2008 03:32 PM
Gregg i Emailed you my pick for the Cheifs. did you get it?
Posted by: Jeremy Simms | April 3, 2008 04:07 PM
LOVE Jake Long thought about him at #1 - but sorry Chris Long IS the safer choice.
Posted by: Scott L. | April 3, 2008 04:50 PM
Jake Long is about as safe as Robert Gallery was. Not sure if Long is the best fit for a zone blocking scheme.
Posted by: Abhay | April 3, 2008 08:07 PM
Daniel has a good point about Cable. Could the Raiders get better value drafting o-line in the second round and going with Gholston here? He also seems like a Raider.
Posted by: gregg | April 4, 2008 09:18 AM
Didn't Al say he didn't want to throw Russell out to the wolves when Culpepper was failing on the field. Even he realized that you must protect your developing quarterback or else you'll shatter his confidence.
This pick is safe and makes complete sense.
Posted by: abruzzi | April 4, 2008 02:50 PM
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Posted by: Fulwdhmc | July 14, 2009 10:45 AM