The Oakland Raiders have made some important draft decisions when it comes to their team's history. The recent Raiders picks have missed more than they have hit and some of that can be contributed to their knack for drafting faster players solely for their speed.
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Bleacher Report’s Dan Pompei, wrote an article about the Raiders’ “obsession” with speed and how it has shaped their history in the NFL.
“As [Al] Davis slowed in his later years, his quest for speed kept accelerating. "It became stronger as he aged," Kingdon said.
And so in the sunset of Davis' career, he mistakenly drafted Stanford Routt (4.27 official time), Darren McFadden (4.33), Darrius Heyward-Bey (4.30), Jacoby Ford (4.28), DeMarcus Van Dyke (4.28) and Taiwan Jones (4.33). His final draft choice was quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who ran a 4.36.”
Since the passing of Al Davis, it seems the Raiders have abandoned the draft style of coveting speed in favor of a more logical and modern way of drafting. The question remains for the Raiders in 2014, will they make a selection based off of speed in this draft?
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The players that stick out in this years draft that will be selected because of their impressive speed would be receiver Brandin Cooks, cornerback Justin Gilbert and running back Dri Archer. Cooks and Gilbert will be first round picks, but shouldn't be on the Raiders radar at No. 5. The Raiders could look to bring in Archer in the later rounds as a speed running back.
It seems that the Raiders have evolved past their one dimensional scouting process and look for actual talent as opposed to what the 40-yard-dash numbers are. The fastest player who makes sense for the Raiders at No. 5 would be Sammy Watkins, but the Raiders have surprised us before. Remember they took Heyward-Bey over Michael Crabtree based off of speed once upon a time.
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