Fansided
Fansided

Oakland Raiders Again Teach the Lesson of Overdrafting

By Erik Lambert

EAST HARTFORD, CT - DECEMBER 01: Obi Melifonwu #30 of the Connecticut Huskies runs onto the field prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Rentschler Field on December 1, 2012 in East Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
EAST HARTFORD, CT - DECEMBER 01: Obi Melifonwu #30 of the Connecticut Huskies runs onto the field prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Rentschler Field on December 1, 2012 in East Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Why have the Oakland Raiders only had one playoff season since 2003? Perhaps one way to help explain it is their tendency to overdraft players.

One thing about drafting in the NFL is that teams can get a little too carried away with the “traits” of a player. They see a kid who is a freak athlete that can do certain things that most other football players simply can’t. Then they start to envision that player on their roster for the next decade molding himself into a future Hall of Famer. When the draft begins, that’s when the panic starts to set in. They begin fearing another team has discovered the secret and will make a move for him.

So they throw away their better judgment and use one of their higher draft choices on the player. Someone who may have the body of a high 1st round pick but the tape and production of one who probably should’ve gone in the mid-rounds. Few teams have mastered and been burned by this art more often than the Raiders and it’s happening again as they chose to part ways with former 2nd round pick Obi Melifonwu.

Obi Melifonwu was a project who got drafted like a starter

More from NFL Mocks

Anybody with passing draft knowledge knows that the range to find starters for your team is the 1st and 2nd rounds. That’s the best place to go after proven players who are ready or close to ready for the NFL. Anybody who watched Melifonwu during his time at UConn saw the same things. He was a terrific athlete with outstanding size and speed but his eyes were undisciplined and he didn’t showcase the best instinct for his position.

His tape said 4th round, but the Raiders took him in the 2nd. Now here it is one year later and he’s cut. What a colossal waste of a valuable draft pick. Then again this is nothing new. Oakland has done it for years. Look at names like Robert Gallery, Fabian Washington, Michael Huff, JaMarcus Russell, and Darrius Heyward-Bey. They all have the same thing in common. They were body beautiful for their positions and workout warriors that impressed in drills.

The Raiders didn’t bother to look closer at the numbers and the tape to ask themselves if those guys truly had all the traits of a future NFL star. That’s why they’ve been mired in mediocrity forever. Melifonwu is merely the latest example. What’s worse is they may not have learned the lesson in this latest draft based on what people were saying about 1st round pick Kolton Miller. Big and freaky athletic but unproven on tape.

Home/NFL Draft