The Oakland Raiders found some nice players in Al Davis’ last draft
Raiders’ owner Al Davis helped his team with picking quite a few solid players last April. Don’t forget that he took QB Terrelle Pryor in the supplemental draft, but he didn’t get into any games. Here is a look at how the rookies did in their first taste of the NFL:
22-year old guard Steve Wisniewski came to the Raiders in the 2nd round last April. He played in 16 games (all starts) for the Raiders last year. He is going to be a fixture on the Raiders’ O-Line for a long, long time.
22-year old CB DeMarcus Van Dyke was a 3rd round pick of the Raiders. He played in 14 games for the Raiders last year and he had 13 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 tackle for a loss, 4 passes defensed and 1 interception. Look for him to start having a bigger role on D starting in 2012.
24-year old OT Joseph Barksdale was picked in the 3rd round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Raiders last year. He could develop into a starter for the Raiders in the near future.
23-year old CB Chimdi Chekwa was a 4th round pick by the Raiders last April. He played in only 4 games in which he had 8 tackles and 2 passes defensed. Look for him to play more in 2012.
23-year old RB Taiwan Jones also came to the Raiders in the 4th round. He played in 10 games for the Raiders last year and he carried the ball 16 times for 73 yards (4.6 ypc). He also caught 2 passes for 25 yards (12.5 avg) and he returned 8 kickoffs for 165 yards (20.8 avg). Look for Jones’ role to expand in 2012.
23-year old WR Denarius Moore was a 5th round steal for the Raiders. Moore played in 13 games for the Raiders last year and he caught 33 passes for 618 yards (18.7 avg) with 5 TD grabs. He also carried the ball 5 times for 61 yards (12.2 ypc) last season. Moore didn’t stop there though as he returned 25 punts for 216 yards (8.6 avg) and 2 kickoffs for 37 yards (18.5 avg). Moore is going to be a dynamic player for the Raiders because of his speed and playmaking ability.
24-year old TE Richard Gordon was picked in the sixth round by the Raiders. He played in 14 games for the Raiders last year and he caught 1 pass for 2 yards. He also had 7 tackles as he helped out on special teams.
24-year old WR David Ausberry also came to the Raiders in the 7th round. Ausberry played in 12 games for the Raiders last year and he caught 2 passes for 14 yards (7.0 avg). He also carried the ball 1 time for -2 yards and he had 7 tackles, earning his money on special teams.
GRADE FOR 2011: B
GRADE FOR THE FUTURE: A
