The Raiders have signed 28-year old guard Daniel Loper.  He played in 8 games (5 starts) for the Lions last season.  Loper has played in 48 games (5 starts) in his five years in the NFL.  The 6’6″, 320 pound Loper will provide depth on the O-Line for the Raiders in 2010 if he makes the team.  It never hurts to add a guy like Loper before training camp.

The Raiders picked safety Stevie Brown with the 251st pick of the NFL Draft (7th round).  He is 5’11″, 213 pounds and he runs a 4.56 40.  Brown had 79 tackles, 1 sack and 1 interception last season for Michigan.  In his four years in college Brown finished up with 184 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and he had 4 interceptions (103 return yards).  Brown was a solid player in college so he was worth taking a chance on this late in the NFL Draft by the Raiders.

The Raiders picked CB Jeremy Ware out of Michigan State with the 215th overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  Ware is 5’11″, 188 pounds but he’s fast.  He had 52 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 interception for the Spartans last season.  He finished up with 84 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 interceptions in his 3 years at Michigan State.  Ware will likely have to earn a spot on the special teams as a rookie for the Raiders.

The Raiders have picked inside linebacker Travis Goethel with the 190th overall pick (6th round) of the NFL Draft.  He has the size at 6’2″, 240 pounds to handle a job on the inside of the D but he’s not very fast 4.86 40 which will hurt him trying to chase around running backs at the NFL level.  Goethel had 53 tackles and 1 interception last season for Arizona State.  He finished up with 223 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 3 interceptions (1 returned for a TD) in his time at Arizona State.  Goethel will have to earn his roster spot on special teams this season but he could develop into a helpful defender for the Raiders down the road.

The Raiders have picked CB Walter McFadden out of Auburn with the 138th overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  McFadden is very thin at 5’11″, 172 pounds but he’s lightning quick running a 4.42 40.  McFadden is a really good pass defender despite his size.  But, he likely won’t be able to help much against the running game.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for Auburn last season and he finished up with 46 tackles, he broke up 10 passes and he had 6 interceptions (154 return yards).  McFadden played in 47 games (25 starts) in his four years at Auburn in which he had 87 tackles, he broke up 19 passes and he had 9 interceptions (265 return yards).  McFadden will likely help the Raiders on special teams and maybe as a nickel back in 2010 and he might be even more than that down the road.

The Raiders have picked WR/KR/PR Jacoby Ford out of Clemson with the 108th overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Ford is a tiny guy at 5’8″, 182 pounds but he was the fastest player at the NFL Combine running a 4.2 40.  Ford fills Al Davis’ need for speed in the draft.  Ford played in 14 games (all starts) for Clemson last season and he caught 56 passes for 779 yards (13.9 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  In his four years in college, Ford played in 48 games (27 starts) in which he caught 143 passes for 1,986 yards (13.9 avg) with 16 TD grabs.  Ford’s whole game is based on speed as he doesn’t help out much as a blocker in the running game.  With the Raiders not having much of a WR corps Ford could have a role as a slot receiver with them.  He also could help out a lot on special teams where the Raiders can use his game changing speed.

The Raiders have picked OT Bruce Campbell out of Maryland with the 106th overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Campbell has nice size at 6’6″, 310 pounds and he is very fast for a tackle.  Campbell is a good pass blocker but he uses more finesse than he should and that hampers his run blocking.  Campbell played in 9 games (all starts) last season at Maryland and he played in 27 games (17 starts) in his three years there.  Campbell was expected to be picked in the 1st or 2nd round by most experts so the Raiders got great value here at a position of need.  Look for him to be starting for the Raiders as early as week #1 this year.

The Raiders have released 24-year old QB JaMarcus Russell.  Russell played in 12 games for the Raiders last season in which he completed 120 of 246 passes (48.8%) for 1,287 yards with 3 TD passes and 11 INTs (50.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 18 times for 44 yards (2.4 ypc) last season.  In his three years with the Raiders, Russell played in 31 games in which he completed 354 of 680 passes (52.1%) for 4,083 yards with 18 TD passes and 23 INTs (65.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 40 times for 175 yards (4.4 ypc) with 1 TD run with the Raiders.  Russell was one of the worst QBs ever for the Raiders and they are a much better team today knowing that he won’t be getting any snaps for them this year.  But, he was still better than Ryan Leaf and Akili Smith.

The Raiders have signed 31-year old RB Michael Bennett.  Bennett played in 6 games for the Chargers last season in which he carried the ball 23 times for 65 yards (2.8 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 65 yards (10.8 avg).  Bennett has now played in 100 games in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 840 times for 3,692 yards (4.4 ypc) with 13 TD carries.  He also has caught 157 passes for 1,285 yards (8.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs so far in his NFL career.  Bennett will likely be the #3 RB for the Raiders in 2010.

The Raiders have signed 30-year old TE John Owens and 29-year old CB Joey Thomas.  Owens played in all 16 games for the Seahawks last season and he caught 3 passes for 16 yards (5.3 avg).  He has played in 67 games in his NFL career in which he has caught 22 passes for 178 yards (8.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Owens is a good run blocker so he should help the Raiders in 2010.  Thomas did not play in the NFL last season.  He last appeared in the NFL in 2008 with the Dolphins.  Thomas has played in 31 games in his NFL career in which he has made 38 tackles, he defensed 4 passes and he forced 1 fumble.  Thomas will probably have to make the Raiders based on his special teams play.