How can Al say no to Mays?

We all knew this day was coming. One year ago almost to the day, I stated exactly what would happen once USC safety Taylor Mays hit the NFL Combine. Now that the world has bore witness to the most physically intriguing prospect in the NFL draft, there is but one question to ponder.

How can Al Davis resist drafting a 6’3”, 230 pound headhunter with true Raider Speed?

Sure, there are plenty of other needs to be addressed with the 8^th pick in the draft. But when did that ever stop Davis – who values potential over production – from nabbing the biggest, strongest and, most importantly, fastest player on the board?

If there is one player who could disrupt Al’s perfectly laid plan, it would be Tennessee’s Eric Berry slipping to the #8 spot.

At that point Davis would look like Peter Griffin trying to decide between renting Ernest Goes to the Beach or Ernest Doesn’t Go to the Beach with two minutes left before the video store closes.

While Mays is a monster roaming the last line of defense, he’s far from a ball hawk and tries to make every hit a highlight instead of wrapping up. Berry, on the other hand, is dynamic in both pass coverage and run support. Both men possess Raider Speed. Both can jump out of the gym. Both are locks to be first round picks.

With the performances today in Indianapolis, Berry has all but cemented himself a spot in the top 10 and the contract that comes with it. Mays still has many questions to be answered but again, that has never stopped Davis from rolling the dice on a physical prospect like the Seattle native.

Both Davis and head coach (?) Tom Cable share the unified vision of resurrecting the Raider Mystique of the past. Last year Oakland made headlines by drafting Michael Mitchell in the second round. Mitchell’s athletic prowess impressed but it was his hard hitting highlight reel that sealed the deal.

While Mitchell struggled with a hamstring injury during his rookie year, he did manage to find a role in goal line packages and as a nickel corner. Perhaps he’s already been tapped to inherit the throne at free safety. In that case drafting Mays could be pointless.

However, Davis knows that his defense needs an identity.

There was once a point in time when men like Jack Tatum patrolled the last line of defense, daring anybody to step foot in their territory where pain was the chief export.

What the last line of Silver and Black defense used to look like.

Now at days it is the other way around with Willis McGahee stiff arming fear into the heart of Hiram Eugene. For Raider Nation, the chief import has been pain these last seven years.

If history is any indicator then it would seem nearly impossible for Davis to take a flyer on Mays. Al spent the better part of the last decade drafting defensive backs (5 DBs picked in the first round during the 2000′s). While cornerback is perhaps a more pressing need, top ranked Joe Haden might just have taken himself out of the running with, well, his running (4.57 isn’t Raider Speed).

Once again it is that familiar conundrum that comes with Al Davis and his outlook on the draft. Berry has the physical tools but will most likely be unavailable at number 8. Haden has the talent but does not possess the impressive physical traits. Mays is great in the weight room but doesn’t have the game film to match.

Sit tight Raider fans; the discussion of this dilemma is just getting warmed up.

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Back in August, I wondered how long it would take for Hey-Bey to catch on. I now know that timeline lies somewhere between never and don’t hold your breath.

Heyward-Beyophobia: The Fear of Pigskin

Blaming Al Davis, Tom Cable or JaMarcus Russell for the poor performance of the Oakland Raiders this season is clichéd. Here at JBB, I pride myself on staying one step ahead of the competition.

Therefore, I’m pinning the 16-10 loss the Raiders suffered against the Kansas City Chiefs on the NFL’s highest paid sprinter – Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Sure, Russell’s 9 completions on 24 attempts won’t win many games in NFL Europe let alone in Canadian Football. Giving up a 44-yard touchdown run on a 4^th and 1 isn’t going to help the latest lame duck head coach of the Silver and Black keep his job. However, when a receiver is given more than $20-million in guaranteed cash and he can’t hold onto a pass that hits him between the 1 and the 2 on the front of his jersey, then he’s clearly bit off more than he can chew from the fruit that falls from the professional football employment tree.

Russell didn’t make many great throws today, so during those blizzards in hell when he does put one on the money his receivers need to stick it in their wallet and not make change. Heyward-Bey may one day overcome his Roberto Durans, until then he’s just going to be known as the guy who couldn’t catch a cold if he were sporting a Speedo in Nome, Alaska.

When Tom Cable finally grew enough sack to not call one of his four Tecmo plays, his top pick let him and the entire Raider organization down.

With his team needing a big play; his quarterback needing a lift; his fans desperate for hope. Darrius Heyward-Bey took a perfect pass that sailed more than 60-yards in the air from JaMarcus Russell and dropped it on the one-yard line. He later made a mess out of a perfect throw from Bruce Gradkowski late in the game.

DHB’s first drop cost his team field position and possibly a touchdown. His second Braylon might just have cost his team the game as his awful hands batted the ball into the grasps of the Kansas City secondary.

Game. Set. Match.

Todd Haley got his first win in Oakland and gave the Chief franchise their 7^th straight victory in the East Bay.

The Raiders haven’t beaten the Chiefs in Oakland since the last time the Silver and Black played in the Super Bowl.

Seven long years and counting.

At this rate, the next time the Raiders get a “W” against the Chiefs in the Coliseum, the NFL’s biggest game won’t even be known as the Super Bowl anymore.

So, to get in front of the curve once again, let’s just call the Super Bowl the ESPN Bowl brought to you by Disney and broadcasted on ABC.

There you have it.

Seven years from now, when the Raiders will be on their 15^th coach since 2003, and JaMarcus Russell is leading the Patriots to the Mickey Mouse Bowl, Darrius Heyward-Bey will be bagging groceries with Tom Cable at a Safeway in Oakland. Then the Raiders might be able to beat the Chargers anywhere and win against the Chiefs at home. 

Until that happens, I guess we’ll just be waiting to hear the name Taylor Mays called with the third pick of the NFL draft in 2010.

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To this day, Jim Rome still references those two weeks out of the year when his talk show was high jacked by Raider Nation and Bandwagon Bolties who ran more smack than the host himself.

These days the trash talk is minimal. Not that it doesn’t exist. It’s just irrelevant.

Naturally you’ll get some heated exchanges on message boards. The stands are still ripe with the fruits discontent no matter the venue. None the less, when a team has won 12 straight contests over their “rivals” it is hard to call the game meaningful.

Ignore the last six years of double digit losses in the East Bay. If the Raiders managed to stick it to the Chargers at least once a year, you’d still hear a sense of excitement among the most infamous fans in football.

Instead, all you get is recycled material devoid of imagination.

Raider fans remind Charger fans that they still have an empty trophy case. Charger fans remind Raider fans that they might have three Lombardis, but those things are as dusty as the Billy Joe Tolliver jerseys hanging in closets throughout San Diego.

In 2009, Tom Cable has his team half way to yet another year of 10 or more L’s. Meanwhile, Norv Turner is setting his misguided fans up for yet another season of mediocrity.

Talking trash is what makes football great for fans. The freedom to polish off a case of beer before noon and lighting up every dope who strolls by in a powder blue Tomlinson jersey used to be enjoyable.

Now it’s just pathetic.

You can’t really get under the skin of a fan base that takes your team about as serious as JaMarcus Russell does his job.

Again, it’s not even about how terrible my Raiders have been the last six years. It’s about how terrible my Raiders have been against the Chargers the last six years.

Some things are eternal.

If you live in Columbus and only win one game a year, it had better be against Michigan. If your beloved Cowgirls only taste victory once, it had better be at the hands of the Redskins.

Not saying that what the Raiders and Chargers have is on par with the above mentioned clashes. Most Raider fans would sooner see the Silver and Black defeat the Steelers, Broncos, Jets or even 49ers. It’s just that the jeers of bandwagon Dolt supporters have grown exponentially in recent years and the time has come to shut their fair-weather mouths.

Consider the fact that Philip Rivers has never lost to the Raiders. That’s right. The most arrogant brat in the NFL not named Cutler has something in common with Al Davis. He owns the Raiders.

Cable might have his team on a direct flight towards drafting Taylor Mays, but that doesn’t mean he can’t take a little Bolt booty en route.

This team has a long way to go before it can be considered a relevant franchise again. After this year, who knows what the future holds. All I know is that after Sunday, I’d better be able to run some trash come this time next year.

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