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At a time when many league observers believe that the Oakland Raiders won’t be able to resist the 4.33 speed of running back Darren McFadden with the fourth overall pick in the draft, a league source tells us that there are “strong indications” that the Raiders will select Ohio State linebacker/defensive end Vernon Gholston.
Gholston’s stock has improved dramatically as a result of pre-draft workouts. If drafted by the Raiders, he would likely supplant Jay Richardson at right defensive end.
And if the Raiders pass on McFadden, look for the Cowboys to try to make a move north, possibly by trading their two first-round picks (No. 22 and No. 28 overall) to the Jets at No. 6 or the Patriots at No. 7.
For the Pats, the move would be a no-brainer, since it would restore the first-rounder they lost due to Spygate, and it would give them two cracks in round one, at much smaller financial investments.
In the Belichick-Pioli era, the Patriots have found guys like Vince Wilfork, Laurence Maroney, Ben Watson, Logan Mankins, and Daniel Graham by picking in round one after the twentieth overall selection.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Is the league source you cited someone from the Cowboys? Seems like they’d have the most to gain by anonymously suggesting McFadden would be available after No. 4, and they’d be willing to deal two picks to move up for him.
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April 9th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
I hope they don’t draft Gholston, IMO he is a workout warrior. Al is probably thinking he is the next Merrimen(I don’t want him unless he takes what Shawn does). If Al doesn’t trade out of the 4th spot I hope he takes one of the DL’s(Ellis, Dorsey or Long). Or what I really want is for him to fleece dallas for their No. 1’s and 2 or 3 and get us a Wide out and a O-lineman.
In the end I bet he takes Mcfadden since he just signed Fargas to an extension and drafted Mike Bush last year.
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April 9th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
GHOLSTON would make the most sense if they can’t trade out of the #4 spot. I agree with the idea of trading down since they’d take less of a cap hit with the pick(not that its coming out of my pocket) and then could pick up a WR later in round 1.
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April 9th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
your source meant to say McFadden
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April 9th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Gholston is an option but i doubt they take a flier on him. This is more about the Raiders trying to muddy up the waters then anything else IMO.
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April 9th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Take Gholston!!! I dont want to see them waste another pick on an O lineman that early. McFadden, who has weaker upper body strength than most NFL kickers, is not an every down back and will end up breaking down and getting hurt.
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April 9th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
If Daren McFadden is available at No. 4, then the Oakland Raiders have to take him. Hell, any one of the three teams above the Raiders (even if satisfied with their running games) ought to take McFadden. This spectacle is a CAN’T MISS; anyone and everyone should see this.
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April 9th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
sedrick ellis or gholston is the way to go.
mcfadden is not neccesary and is falsely being compared to peterson
i love how everyone says mcfadden is a can’t miss. weren’t all these same people bashing the texans for taking mario williams?
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April 9th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
People are calling Gholston the next Merriman….but he might be the next Umenyiora….and that’s worth the #4 pick in the draft, if last year taught us anything.
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April 9th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Doubt Dallas will move up for McFadden. Dallas will get a RB to compliment Barber at 22 or 28 and use the remaining pick to try to trade for an established WR. Felix Jones and Stewart will likely be around in the 20s.
Like every team in the Top 5, Dallas doesn’t want to pay that money. They’d rather extend the contract of an established WR than overpay for an unproven rookie.
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April 9th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Seems like every year there’s a ONCE INA LIFETIME running back who “everybody” should take. *shrug*
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Over Dorsey? Ellis? McFadden? Long? Why not just bring back Tony Mandarich? We don’t want do be the next Charger anything. What have they ever won? I rather suck for five years and have glory years than live knowing I will never ever win a Super Bowl like a Charger fan. So save the Merriman comparisons for some poor team that wants that junk. Roid boy didn’t do much when they took away his pills. Raiders should just take Dorsey or Ellis and finish of this D they have been putting together!
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:28 am
And the Jets will have who running the ball again in 2008 if it isn’t McFadden?
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:36 am
As a Raiders fan I am going to say Ihope they pass on Gholston because this guy is a 3-4 outside linebacker. To make him a defensive end is waste of potential. Right now the Raiders don’t have the personnel to go to a 3-4. Yes we could get an awesome running back. But we only have 4 picks this year and we need o-line help more than we need a running back. Sure Mcfadden is the sexy pick and I am sure he will be great in the NFL. But we still don’t know what we have in Michael Bush. Before breaking his leg this kid was an easy top 5 draft pick last year. We got him for a steal in the fourth round.
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:51 am
I gotta ask: how could the Raiders afford to keep the #4 pick!? Nobody can pick in the top five year-after-year like the Raiders have been, its too expensive. What are they gonna do, have six overpaid players surrounded by scrubs? That just equals another top five selection in next year’s draft.
The old Jimmy Johnson (Peace be upon his name) draft value card is obsolete… its over ten years old now. Al Davis is gonna have to suck it up and take whatever he can get for that four spot, its not like there’s anyone who is truly MUST HAVE. Heck, there isn’t even a consensus #1 this year.
Everyone in the top 5 of this years draft should be desperately looking for outs. Sure, there’s quality available, but none of those guys deserve the type of money that comes with the top picks. I really can’t wait until Florio starts posting the nitty gritties about the upcoming labor dispute, the draft HAS to be overhauled, as well as the salary cap, injured and retired players…
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April 10th, 2008 at 2:54 am
With the depth of the running back class and multitude of overpaid backs on the Raiders, do you really think the Raiders would take a chance on McFadden??? If Gholston is available, which he should be, the Raiders would definitely pick him seeing the production that Justin Fargas put out last year when he actually got to play.
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April 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am
In my opinion I hope that Glen Dorsey is available in the 4 slot and the Raiders select him.I think he’s the best player in the draft,and will be a great NFL player.As far as McFadden goes I wonder if the Raiders value running back as highly as they once did seeing as they are using the zone blocking scheme now .Many running backs have flourished in that system that were not high draft picks,plus they have yet to find out what they have in Michael Bush.I like Gholston very much,my only concern is if he can play the run strong enough to be a 3 down player.I’d hate to see the Raiders use the 4th pick for just a situational pass rusher if that’s all he is.
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April 10th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Really, Gholston and Burgess would be ridiculous. If Gholston could shut the run down and Burgess tighten up just a hair with pass rushing we would be a major threat. But I like Ellis too. And we signed Edwards, Kelly…Just please, for the love of god don’t draft McFadden. I fear he’s going to be a semi-bust, someone’s going to tackle that man and rip his head off.
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April 10th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I wouldn’t be surprised if you see a team like Oakland take McFadden. I know they signed Justin Fargas, and they drafted an injured Michael Bush; but, McFadden would sell tickets, plain and simple. One of the main reasons the Saints drafted Reggie Bush was because he was so electric and explosive. Bush was not the best player in the ‘06 draft by any means, but he was one of the most exciting. McFadden is more powerful than Bush and obviously coming out of the SEC, he has more than enough accreditation. A man his size with that speed, people would flock to watch. And I think that’s what Oakland needs, after their Super Bowl meltdown, taking and losing Randy Moss, the Daunte situation, the Russell situation, etc. But at the same time, maybe Oakland WILL trade down to Dallas, or even the Jets, yes the Jets at #6…as long as they get out of that tight four spot.
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April 10th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Ellis will fall to New England at #7.
I’ll give the top 7 a shot here”
Miami - Chis Long
St Louis - Jake Long
Atlanta - Matt Ryan (or Glenn Dorsey)
Oakland - Gholston
KC - Dorsey (or Ryan)
Jets to Dallas - McFadden
New England - Ellis
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April 10th, 2008 at 10:45 am
That top 7 looks real good; it’ll most likely happen. But, I’d love to see McFadden fall to 7, where New England could ship that spot over to Dallas for #22 and #28. I wouldn’t be surprised to see NE do something uncharacteristic of themselves; I mean this past year look what kind of players they went after (Stallworth, Moss, etc) and the entire “running up the score” debate. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them take a different type of person than we expect them to. Also, if the McFadden scenario does indeed happen, watch the Patriots then trade one of their twenty-something picks back up for a higher number to maybe grab McKelvin, Rodgers-Cromartie or Talib.
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
There is no way that Eric Mangini would pass on McFadden and trade down if he falls to #6. There’s even a possibility that the Jets will try to trade up to #4 to get him.
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April 10th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Gholston would be a classic Raiders pick. All workout numbers and no football instinct. Just classic. Al has truly let the game pass him by, and it’s a ton of fun to watch him drive his franchise into the ground like a meteor from outer space.
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April 10th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Why in the world would they do that? They have two decent RBs already and, similarly to the Bears, their need has been at the O-line so the holes their RB’s want to go through actually, ya know, open.
But unlike the Bears, the J-E-T-S have actually addressed their O-line in free agency so the staff is already expecting to see a marked improvement from the running game.
When one considers the realities of the salary cap, would it really be wise to take a RB with the #6 pick, which would cost tens of millions of dollars, when they’ve already commited somewhere around $100 million to the running game over these past two off-seasons?!
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April 11th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I expect the first 3 picks to be:
Miami:J.Long
Rams: C.Long
Atlanta:Dorsey
If that happens the Raiders should try and trade down if possible and obtain additional picks. However that is very unlikely. So the Raiders
will have the choice between McFadden, S.Ellis and Gholston.
McFadden would add much needed juice to the offense as a big play home run threat. Fargas has been injury prone in the past and he is unlikely to be able to produce over the course of an entire season. The Raiders would have their version of LT or LJ.
However I believe strongly in rebuilding the OL and DL. Ellis or Gholston would complete the DLine and the defense (with Kelly being the swing player at DT/DE)and make it a strong unit.
Last year the Raiders were a sieve against the run. Unless you can stop the run, you have no chance of becoming a good defense. That is why I think S.Ellis makes the most sense. The Raiders have to find a way to slow down LT, LJ and the Broncos traditionaly strong run game.
Ellis can also collapse the pocket in the passing game.
Burgess-Warren-Ellis-Kelly would be a good run stop DLine. They could move Kelly inside on passing downs and bring in K.Edwards.
Alternatively they could take Gholston and fill their most pressing need which is DE. However I don’t think Gholston is big enough to be a base end and hold up against the run. He is better suited to be a
3-4 pass rushing OLB. The only way he would be a better choice than Ellis is if the Raiders intend to switch between a 4-3 and a 3-4 which
is quite possible.
I don’t think the Raiders can go wrong with any of these guys. I’d like to finish off the defense with S.Ellis or Gholston although I can see the rational for helping J.Russel and spicing up the offense with McFadden who is widely considered the #1 prospect in the draft.
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