With their first-round pick in Thursday's NFL draft, the Oakland Raiders select ...
Um, never mind.
"Obviously, we don't have a first-round draft pick, quote-unquote," coach Hue Jackson said Thursday with a wink and a smile. "We think we have a pretty good one. He plays for us already."
Defensive lineman Richard Seymour, of whom Jackson spoke, is indeed a good one, a Pro Bowl pick in 2010. But it's difficult to believe he was worth the cost. Raiders owner Al Davis fetched him from New England two years ago for what will be the 17th overall pick come Thursday.
Barring a trade, the Raiders' first selection will come at No. 48.
It's a ripe topic now, given that a mid-first-round pick is the kind of thing that could come in handy for a team that hasn't posted a winning record in eight seasons. In retrospect, the Seymour deal hasn't been much of a difference-maker for either side.
The Patriots, who finished second and failed to make the playoffs in 2008, actually improved marginally. They have won back-to-back division titles and been postseason one-and-dones since unloading Seymour.
The Raiders, coming off a five-win season when they dealt for Seymour, have gone 5-11 and 8-8. And while last season's break-even mark was a departure from the low bar they have been rolling out there since 2002: "Come in .500," Davis snorted the day he hired Jackson three months ago. "That's never been my goal."
this is a deal that has failed to pan out for the Raiders. For all Seymour's good work, he has helped the team take little more than a baby step forward. Meanwhile, he will turn 32 in October. His time is now, if not sooner. You would be hard-pressed to find many people who believe the same about the Raiders, though one turned up Thursday.
"It's a very young, talented team that we have," Jackson said. "There's some things to fix, but there's not a ton."
So what would he like to fix? The offensive line, which will lose starting left guard Robert Gallery?
"Well, I will tell you it's one of our needs," Jackson said.
Quarterback, where Jason Campbell's numbers suggest he should be a more palatable audiovisual experience?
"I don't know that it's a position of need," Jackson said. "Would I love to get a younger arm on this team? Yes, no question."
A defense that ranked second in the NFL against the pass last year in part because it was a soft-touch 29th against the run?
"We have a defensive football team that can hit the ground running," Jackson said. "A very talented defensive football team that I feel very comfortable putting out on the field."
In truth, if you assume cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha's departure as a free agent to be a done deal, the Raiders are in need of upgrades and/or depth everywhere except the kicking game and running back. And here we find ourselves back at the 17th pick.
Eleven of the past 12 picks at No. 17 played in the NFL last season, including offensive lineman Damien Woody, a Pro Bowl pick and two-time Super Bowl winner with New England; offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson, a five-time first-team All-Pro; and linebacker D.J. Williams, a seven-year starter in Denver.
A similar survey of No. 48 picks reveals only one Pro Bowl player, offensive lineman Matt Light of New England.
Fun with data: The Raiders have spent the 48th overall pick once -- on Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long. They have taken four whacks at No. 17 -- linebacker Ed Pine, Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw, kicker Sebastian Janikowski and (hold your nose) defensive back Phillip Buchanon. Which illustrates how difficult it is to draw conclusions when it comes to the draft as practiced by Davis, a man so obsessed with speed he would trade up to draft a beam of light if it could be fitted with shoulder pads and a helmet.
In general, however, we can surmise the Raiders would have been better off with the 17th pick in this draft than Seymour's contributions over the past two years -- subject to revision should (a) the Raiders mount a playoff run this season on the strength of a stout defense or (b) Seymour mentor and leave behind a championship legacy in the likes of Tommy Kelly, Lamarr Houston, Trevor Scott and Matt Shaughnessy.
Not likely, it says here. Quote-unquote.
Contact Gary Peterson at gpeterson@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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