BJ Raji looks as good a advertised...

[DC Tom]

Don't knock it. That guy that figured out the "Loss-man" thing a couple years ago was dead on.

 

Well, then it's a good thing we didn't draft O-"crap"-o.

[ColdBlueNorth]

It's tough to argue with this sort of scintillating analysis.

Good grief. The "Maybe" comment was just an attempt at humor. I will see your wall bash and raise you...

 

I could have said that he only had one stand-out year at Penn and that many felt that he was a reach at 11, but what fun is that?

 

LossMan I liked, just had a Drew Bledsoe-like 5 second clock in his head in a league where 3 seconds is a luxury. He also had a similar penchant for fumbling every time he was sacked.

[ColdBlueNorth]

I was thinking that "BJ" sounded too much like.....BJ

Now THAT is funny

[Jon in Pasadena]

Now THAT is funny

[ColdBlueNorth]

i dont know but their new toy sure looked good

 

I am sort of "getting the business" on this post, but it is hard to argue that Raji looked real dominant for being a rookie.

 

I liked Maybin as much as any of the other edge rushing DE's in his class, I just don't know if any of them are going to be impact players this year. I hope I am wrong that that he turns the corner fast - we need the help now.

[ColdBlueNorth]

true

Of course, I understand that all this is hypothetical and we have the cards we are dealt.

 

Maybin may become the impact player we need as quickly as we need him to do so.

 

As to the draft I am not sure we would have had to sacrifice Wood or Levitre. If Oakland and/or the Jaguars (who were both targeting offense) knew that they could move down a couple spots, still get their man, but only have to pay him 11th pick money..... Maybe they would have swung a deal for less than folks think. Oakland definately could have gotten Heyward-Bey later in the draft. Of course, there is no guarantee that Green Bay would have gone defense if we had grabbed Raji before them.

[Proteus]

Given the ownage pressure Raji applied he would have fixed the tampa 2 scheme for sure, however he went at 9 we drafted at 11. Trading up would have cost us Wood and Levitire, which would have meant having no o-line at all.

 

I'm cool with us taking Maybin but there is no way it would have cost us that much to move from 9 to 11. Not even close.

[zazie]

Of course, I understand that all this is hypothetical and we have the cards we are dealt.

 

Maybin may become the impact player we need as quickly as we need him to do so.

 

As to the draft I am not sure we would have had to sacrifice Wood or Levitre. If Oakland and/or the Jaguars (who were both targeting offense) knew that they could move down a couple spots, still get their man, but only have to pay him 11th pick money..... Maybe they would have swung a deal for less than folks think. Oakland definately could have gotten Heyward-Bey later in the draft. Of course, there is no guarantee that Green Bay would have gone defense if we had grabbed Raji before them.

It is the flip side of your argument which makes it so tedious. RW would never move UP to spots because it would COST him 9th pick money when he can easily validate to fans that he pay only 11th pick money.

 

In fact RW would probably prefer to trade DOWN several spots, to save money. Trade up in the into the top 10 picks in the first round... never.

 

The fact is, we could have had Orakpo, but, we do have Maybin. We can only hope that the coaching and scouting staff did a better job here than on say, Losman. WOOD seems like a good pick (but I credit luck, not them, don't ask me why) but Byrd was another terrible choice given what was avail.

[Erik]

Of course, I understand that all this is hypothetical and we have the cards we are dealt.

 

Maybin may become the impact player we need as quickly as we need him to do so.

 

As to the draft I am not sure we would have had to sacrifice Wood or Levitre. If Oakland and/or the Jaguars (who were both targeting offense) knew that they could move down a couple spots, still get their man, but only have to pay him 11th pick money..... Maybe they would have swung a deal for less than folks think. Oakland definately could have gotten Heyward-Bey later in the draft. Of course, there is no guarantee that Green Bay would have gone defense if we had grabbed Raji before them.

 

The problem with that scenario is you are trying to look at it logically from the Raiders point of view...I don't believe logic is something that enters into Al Davis' strategy much anymore.

[Fewell733]

just watched Raji's highlights on NFL.com. the commentators were over the top in praising him. He looked fine, got some good push including a brutal pancake of Hangartner (which didn't affect the play at all) but not warranting the praise he was receiving at all. Probably the most heinous example was when he was up against Wood and Wood stuffed him and put him to the ground, yet the broadcasters deemed it a total "mismatch" in Raji's favor. Uh, ok?

[Nervous Guy]

just watched Raji's highlights on NFL.com. the commentators were over the top in praising him. He looked fine, got some good push including a brutal pancake of Hangartner (which didn't affect the play at all) but not warranting the praise he was receiving at all. Probably the most heinous example was when was up against Wood and Wood stuffed him and put him to the ground, yet the broadcasters deemed it a total "mismatch" in Raji's favor. Uh, ok?

As I watched it yesterday, I thought the exact same thing...nothing super special...actually nothing really special. The "pancake" was the result of Hangartner looking at what was happening on his left and not being prepared for him. Actually those GB announcers were the biggest homers ever, blowing everything out of proportion.