Oakland Raiders Draft: Why Can’t They Find Success In the First Round?

The Oakland Raiders were always a team that took chances on players, both in the draft and in free agency, and it worked so well for them for a very long time.  So why now have things got so bad that every time the Raiders make a move, sports journalists write it off as a failure without even proper examination?

Similarly like they way they applaud everything done by Bill Belichick without hesitation?

Especially in terms of the draft, the Raiders have lost their way over the last 10 years with their first-round picks.

We always had our busts, like any team.  For every Marcus Allen, there was a Charles Philyaw.  For every Gene Upshaw, there was a John Clay (who?–exactly). 

Oakland batted a little over .500 for the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s in terms of success with the first player taken by them in the draft.

Since 1999, the only truly successful player taken as a first pick has been Nnamdi Asomugha in 2003.

Prior to that it was Charles Woodson in 1998. That is a whole lot of wasted picks and wasted dollars on players who have not performed.  

In the 70’s, our first-round winners were Raymond Chester, Jack Tatum, Ray Guy, Henry Lawrence, and Mike Davis.  In the 80’s they were Marcus Allen, Don Mosebar, Sean Jones, and Tim Brown. 

Even the 90’s, we had Chester McGlockton, Rob Frederickson, Charles Woodson, and Napoleon Kaufman.

In the 10 years following, we had...Nanmdi Asomugha.

So why the decline?  I think that there are several reasons.

Firstly, the game has changed.  A player with outstanding physical tools can’t dominate the same way they did back in the 70’s and 80’s, or even the 90’s.  The game has been turned more into a science than a sport, with all players bigger, stronger, and faster in every way.

Coaches h...