Denarius Moore might not make the 53-man roster. For all we know he may never even play in an NFL contest. However, by adding another deep threat to the mix the Raiders have sent a strong message to DHB – shape up or ship out.

I don’t want this to come across the wrong way. Hey-Bey is no purple drank addicted loafer living off the fat of his contract. He’s the exact opposite in fact. Heyward-Bey is a hard worker with a team first mentality.

Fact of the matter is in the NFL it’s all about production. Al Davis himself subscribes to the production over percentages philosophy. DHB has simply not produced and his percentage of targets to catches is more laughable than a franchise being built on the back of Tim Tebow.

By drafting Moore the Raiders are putting Heyward-Bey on the hot seat. A man who was handed a job as a rookie is suddenly going to have to compete for a role if and when we ever get back to the business of playing football.

Why else would the Raiders draft another receiver? Specifically a receiver that brings one true quality to the team – the ability to stretch the field.
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This time around, it is the Philadelphia Eagles who have been given a bye week from the NFL schedule makers.

To the surprise of none, the Coliseum will not be sold out and once again the Black Hole has been blacked out.

Had the animal rights activists who plan to protest the arrival of Michael Vick from outside the Coliseum actually chosen to do so inside, then maybe Roger Goodell would have lifted the blackout. Somehow, I don’t think this was way the NFL had hoped to push ticket sales though. Vick has already refused an invitation to visit 10 dogs that were at one point under his care but now call the Bay Area home.

While Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook are the headliners, it is the breakout performance of Jeremy Maclin one week ago that has become the newest way to rub salt in the open wounds of Raider Nation.

A rare sighting: Heyward-Bey with a football.

Darrius Heyward-Bey has just three touches in 5 NFL games. Maclin, the third wide receiver selected in the ’09 draft, caught 2 TDs a week ago. In fact, last Sunday was a great day for the rookie receivers of the class of ’09 not named Darrius. Hakeem Nicks caught a TD against the Raiders, Percy Harvin netted 66-yards receiving and Maclin had a banner day with 142 yards on 6 catches. DHB took the goose egg…again.

In defense of Heyward-Bey, he’s playing on the worst offense in football. This unit is so bad that it is starting to make the 2006 Raiders look like an offensive juggernaut.

Greg Ellis has come to grips with where the Raiders stand in the NFL. He’s not alone. If anyone in the locker room has any pride left, then they’ll show up on Sunday with something to prove. Tom Cable has gone on the record saying that the Raiders need three wins in a row to restore the faith. Being that the Raiders have been outscored 96-16 over their last three games, it would seem that only a miracle from God could reverse the trend over the next three. Cable might have blind faith, but Randy Hanson thinks he’s just a liar and wants to prove it.

A ray of hope appeared to creep its way into the East Bay this week when Chaz Schilens returned to the practice field. Unfortunately for JaMarcus Russell, he’ll be without his security blanket once again as Schilens is unlikely to go given the stunning news of Javon Walker actually being activated for the game. If Walker has things his way, it will be the final time he puts on a Raider uniform.

The offensive line is still in shambles. The linbacking core is being held together by string and the special teams just hopes to get better.

There are no moral victories in the NFL, but the Raiders sure could use a morale booster for pro football’s most ridiculed franchise.

As for Heyward-Bey; he just needs to get going and in a hurry. At this rate, Michael Crabtree will be the next receiver picked in the first round to lap him in the race for contract justification. DHB is currently the NFL’s highest paid sprinter. For the sake of JaMarcus Russell’s future, he’d better become an underpaid pass catcher soon or else this has the makings of an epically awful season. 

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The Oakland Raiders are to blame for the burgeoning swine flu pandemic. Those horrific business practices of Al Davis have ultimately led to the disbanding of the major U.S. automakers. That’s right! All of the world’s problems can be traced directly to the door step of Al Davis and his cohort Tom Cable.

Exhibit A: The Raiders selecting Darrius Heyward-Bey over Michael Crabtree

ESPN’s draft coverage missed the moment when Al Davis and Tom Cable each took turns using Mel Kiper’s mock draft as toilet paper. Never one to do what is best for his franchise, Mr. Davis decided that it just didn’t make too much sense to listen to a TV analyst and instead decided to lean on paid professionals to properly evaluate talent. How could he?

Shame on Mr. Davis for thinking he knows more than Mel Kiper! At this point in time, I’m not even sure why we still hold a draft. Wouldn’t the NFL be a better league if we just got rid of the draft and allowed Kiper to pick for every team? I’m sure his decisions have led to more Lombari trophies than those made by Al Davis.

After all, every fan out there can’t spend much time evaluating talent, right? The average fan is just too busy with, well, life. Therefore, Mel Kiper becomes the mouth piece for the layman. What he says goes and anyone who opposes is a draft neophyte void of rational decision making.

Al Davis should be ashamed for not considering Michael Crabtree’s stats and his two Biletnikoff trophies before making his decision to pass on the Texas Teach star receiver for Heyward-Bey.  As we all know, putting up huge stats in division one college football is a sure fire way to tell if a player will be productive in the NFL. That is why the best quarterbacks in the modern game are being cranked out of Texas Tech.

Why, the list of Biletnikoff winners alone is enough to make one believe that every recipient is a lock to be in Canton. After all, Bobby Engram, Marcus Harris, Troy Edwards, Troy Walters, Josh Reed, Charles Rogers and Mike Haas have all gone onto great NFL careers.

Head coach Tom Cable clearly has no idea what it takes to be successful in the NFL. While defending the selections of Heyward-Bey and second round choice Michael Mitchell, Cable made it clear that his players must have talent (of course) but they must also be hard workers and dedicated teammates. Who thinks this way?

You can’t build a winner with quality character guys! What fools Davis and Cable have revealed themselves to be!

What angered most on draft day was that Davis and Cable announced themselves as the smartest guys in the room by ignoring what the consensus proclaimed. They should have been more like the Philadelphia Eagles in round one. When it was Andy Reid’s turn to pick, he simply turned to Mel Kiper and looked at his big board. Hello Jeremy Maclin. Never mind that DeSean Jackson is the same player, Mel says to draft Maclin.

The popular theory is that all Mr. Davis did was look at 40 times. He never considered that Heyward-Bey might become the next version of Terrell Owens, minus the prima donna, Michael Crabtree-like attitude. No, Mr. Davis simply decided that speed means more than anything else.

Team speed is, after all, the Raider philosophy. Every team has a philosophy. Jerry Jones likes knuckle heads. Ralph Wilson likes mediocrity. Bill Belichick likes cheaters. Al Davis likes speed. 

The whole world knows that Al Davis can’t possibly have a clue when it comes to evaluating receivers. That’s why he waited more than 20 years to pick another receiver in round one of the NFL draft. The last stiff Davis picked in the first round was, of course, a speed demon from Notre Dame named Tim Brown. What a scrub that Tim Brown was.

If ridicule is truly the burden of genius, then Al Davis must be Albert Einstein. Time will tell if Darrius Heyward-Bey can find a vaccine for the swine flu. As of now, Al Davis will just have to keep those three Lombardi trophies hidden from plain sight. Should Mel Kiper find out that Mr. Davis has actually had success in the NFL, it could ruin the good name of the Oakland Raiders.