Trending toward Calvin
The hot trend among draftniks and those who may have a bit more information is that the Raiders are now leaning toward taking receiver Calvin Johnson with the top overall pick in Saturday's draft rather than quarterback JaMarcus Russell.
The Press-Enterprise today published a mock draft produced by seasoned NFL reporter Rick Gosselin of PE sister paper The Dallas Morning News with Oakland taking Johnson. "Say goodbye to Randy Moss" is Gosselin's comment about the pick.
There are two reasons for the trending toward Johnson:
1) Word leaked out of the Raiders fortress recently that owner Al Davis is enamored with Johnson, who clocked a 4.35 40-yard-dash in borrowed shoes at the combine. It's no secret that Davis loves speed and players running sub-4.4s, no matter how obscure, tend to find themselves in silver and black. Johnson gives the Raiders the deep threat Randy Moss has failed to become since slithering into Oaktown.
2) The NFL Network's Adam Schefter reported last week on NFL.com that the Raiders could actually save quite a bit of money and cap space by simply letting Moss go. The report stated the Raiders could save $9.75 million in base salary and save $7.75 against the salary cap this season and another $9.25 against the cap next season. That's more value than they've gotten from Moss to this point or will get from here on out.
The drafting-Johnson-cutting-Moss scenario looms as a huge upgrade at receiver but leaves the Raiders with an ugly hole at no less than the quarterback position currently manned by Andrew Walter and Josh Booty.
Walter has shown little promise while running for his life behind one of the lamest offensive lines (not to mention offensive coaching staffs) in the history of lame offensive lines (and offensive coaching staffs). So, it's honestly hard to know if the strong-armed Walter can reach the potential he showed at ASU under a revamped and upgraded staff. It's hard to think of Booty as anything more than a camp body to get them through until the real players show up.
There are no easy answers for the Raiders. There are risks in drafting Russell or Notre Dame's Brady Quinn at the top (not to mention paying that huge No. 1 quarterback signing bonus) or the likes of BYU's John Beck or Stanford's Trent Edwards at No. 33 atop the second round. And how do they figure acquiring Josh McCown, Aaron Rodgers or Daunte Culpepper through trade or free agency is a solution?
I have always thought the Raiders would cringe at the contract a No. 1 overall quarterback would demand. That and the simple fact that Davis "reportedly" loves Johnson makes me believe they'll pass on Russell at No. 1 and look to add a quarterback in later rounds.
Oh, and did we mention Johnson runs 4.35 and Davis loves big players who can run?