Lessons Learned from Oakland Raiders’, Reggie McKenzie’s 2012 Draft Strategy

No NFL team experienced a more dramatic changing of the guard in the last year than the Oakland Raiders. After the passing of Al Davis, quite possibly the most hands-on owner in the league, the Raiders let Hue Jackson have the reins just long enough to trade away their 2012 first-round pick and 2013 second-round pick for Carson Palmer. The team had already used their second, third, and fourth-round picks in trades and the 2011 supplemental draft. New general manager Reggie McKenzie only had a knife at the gunfight that was the 2012 NFL Draft, but he wasn't going to shy away from the task at hand. What can we conclude about his and the Raiders' new philosophy in light of the picks and moves they made?

Round Pick Player Position School 3 95 Tony Bergstrom OL Utah 4 129 Miles Burris LB San Diego State 5 158 Jack Crawford DL Penn State 5 168 Juron Criner WR Arizona 6 189 Christo Bilukidi DE Georgia State 7 230 Nathan Stupar LB Penn State The Raiders are no longer going to be obsessed with speed.

McKenzie hinted at this before the draft, saying "We're not looking for guys that just run fast." He doesn't need to focus on speed because Al Davis's fixation on 40 times has the team stocked with speed all over the field.

The moving on from the need for speed was best shown by the choice of Criner, a big wide receiver who fell to the fifth round because he runs in the 4.6s. McKenzie said Criner is quick for a big guy, which meant the lack of speed wasn't a "red flag".

McKenzie wants to draft players who remind him of himself, which means smart, tough, hard-working players over special athletes.

McKenzie told Cohn Zohn of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that he wants to draft players who are like him. When asked why, this was his answer (emphasis mine):

The qualities I thought I brought to the table were – this is just outside of numbers – my football intelligence, instincts were go...