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

22-year old, rookie 5th round pick Denarius Moore is really stepping up for the Raiders so far this year.  The rookie WR has played in all 3 games for the Raiders so far this year and he has caught 9 passes for 180 yards (20.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has also carried the ball 2 times for 48 yards (24.0 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this year.  Moore is the gamebreaking type of WR that Al Davis covets, so he appears to have landed in the right place at the right time.

The Oakland Raiders took 22-year old, 6’6″, 233 QB Terrelle Pryor in the 3rd round of the supplemental draft today.  He must sit out the first five games of his NFL career (no practice time either) due to a league suspension for circumventing the supplemental draft.  Pryor ran a 4.36 40 at his Pro Day last Saturday and you know how much owner Al Davis loves speed.  I think the Raiders are going to look at Pryor first as a QB as they have no clear cut QB of the future.  Pryor completed 210 of 323 passes (65%) for 2,772 yards with 27 TD passes and 11 INTs last year for the Buckeyes.  He also carried the ball 135 times for 754 yards (5.6 ypc) with 4 TD runs for the Buckeyes.  Pryor completed 477 of 783 passes (60.9%) for 6,177 yards with 57 TD passes and 26 INTs in his three years with the Buckeyes.  He also carried the ball 436 times for 2,164 yards (5.0 ypc) with 17 TD runs and he caught 3 passes for 24 yards (8.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his college career.  I shouldn’t be too surprised to see the Raiders use such a high pick on Pryor because he will fit right in with the Raiders.

The Raiders were caught reaching for speed (Al Davis loves it) as they drafted almost every player they picked 1 round to high.  With their first pick of the day (2nd round) the Raiders took center Stefen Wisniewski who has already been named the starting center by new head coach Hue Jackson.  The Raiders used 3rd and 4th round picks on cornerbacks DeMarcus Van Dyke and Chimdi Chekwa who fit Davis’ mold as they are both very fast.  OT Joseph Barksdale came to the Raiders in the 3rd round and he will battle for P.T. on the right side of the O-Line in 2011.  RB Taiwan Jones (4th round), WR Denarius Moore (5th round), TE Richard Gordon (6th round) and WR David Ausberry (7th round) all add speed to the Raiders’ offense.

PROJECTED GRADE:  D

The Oakland Raiders picked WR David Ausberry out of USC with the 241st overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Ausberry is a big target at 6’2″, 241 pounds so the Raiders might consider moving him to TE or FB down the road.  He caught 20 passes for 252 yards (12.6 avg) last year for USC.  In his four years with the Trojans, Ausberry caught 64 passes for 700 yards (10.9 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  Ausberry will be longshot to make the Raiders’ roster in 2011.

The Raiders took TE Richard Gordon out of Miami (FL) with the 181st overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Gordon is 6’4″, 268 pounds and he can run a 4.66 40, so he is a solid athlete.  He has been a tad injury prone (shoulder problems) in college and he wasn’t very productive in the passing game.  He caught 6 passes for 30 yards (5.0 avg) last year for the Hurricanes.  He only caught 10 passes for 62 yards (6.2 avg) in his four years with Miami (FL).  This was a HUGE reach for the Raiders.

The Oakland Raiders picked WR Denarius Moore out of Tennessee with the 148th overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Moore is 6’0″, 194 pounds and he runs a 4.4 40.  Moore is a homerun threat every time the ball is throw in his direction which could make him a perfect fit for the vertical passing game of the Raiders.  Moore played in 13 games for Tennessee last year and he caught 47 passes for 981 yards (20.9 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  He caught 112 passes for 2004 yards (17.9 avg) with 18 TD grabs in his four years with the Volunteers.  This might turn out to be a really good pick for the Raiders.

The Raiders took RB Taiwan Jones out of Eastern Washington with the 125th overall pick (4th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Jones is 6’0″, 194 pounds and he runs a 4.4 40.  Jones started his career at Eastern Washington as a corner but in 2009 he converted to RB.  Jones’ game is speed as he’s solid running to the edges or catching passes out of the backfield.  He is also a decent kickoff returner.  Jones played in 12 games (10 starts) for Eastern Washington last year and he carried the ball 221 times for 1,742 yards (7.9 ypc) with 14 TD runs.  He also caught 24 passes for 342 yards (14.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs last year.  Jones played in 24 games (19 starts) in his two years at RB for Eastern Washington and he carried the ball 383 times for 2,955 yards (7.7 ypc) with 29 TD carried.  He also caught 64 passes for 895 yards (14.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs at Eastern Washington.  Jones returned 50 kickoffs for 1,134 yards (22.7 avg) in his career at Eastern Washington.  This was another classic Al Davis-type pick as Jones has the speed he craves.  Jones will likely have a bigger role on special teams than he will on offense early on in his career with the Raiders.

The Oakland Raiders have picked 23-year old cornerback Chimdi Chekwa out of Ohio State with the 113th overall pick (4th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Chekwa is 6’0, 191 pounds and he runs a 4.45 40.  Al Davis loves speed and Chekwa has more than enough of that to burn.  Chekwa is a willing tackler but he sometimes plays on his heels letting the action come to him.  The Raiders think they can coach up Chekwa.  He will be able to help the team immediately on special teams.  Chekwa played in 13 games (all starts) for Ohio State last year and he had 42 tackles, he broke up 9 passes, had 3 interceptions and he forced 2 fumbles.  Chekwa played in 52 games (38 starts) in his four years with the Buckeyes and he had 145 tackles, broke up 29 passes, had 6 interceptions and he forced 2 fumbles.

The Oakland Raiders have picked 22-year old T/G Joseph Barksdale out of LSU with the 92nd overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Barksdale is a big guy at 6’5″, 313 pounds.  Barksdale sometimes whiffs on blocks down the field and he has had issues with speed rushers at DE.  It seems like he will be much more suited to play guard than tackle at the NFL level.  Barksdale played in 13 games (all starts) for the Tigers last year and he played in 53 games (39 starts) in his four years there.  The Raiders have had luck with coaching up offensive linemen lately so maybe Barksdale will be the latest success story there.  The Raiders hope so because they really need help on the O-Line.