Looking back at the Raiders Top-5 NFL Draft misses of all time

Looking back at the Raiders Top-5 NFL Draft misses of all time

4. LB Napoleon Harris - 23rd Overall in 2002

Napoleon Harris was a linebacker out of Northwestern that the Oakland Raiders took 23rd Overall in the 2002 NFL Draft. That so happened to be the year the Raiders would go on to be waxxed by the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl, led by recently traded head coach Jon Gruden, but that's for a different article.

Coming out of college, Harris was 6-3, 253 lbs and ran a 4.55 second 40-yard dash. He was 2x second team All-Big Ten on 2000 and 2001 and was rated the best linebacker in his class. The Raiders, drafting him as the first linebacker off the board at 23rd overall, also believed in that sentiment.

There was a shimmer of hope for him after his first year in the league as he was selected to the Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie team.

But Harris' career with the Raiders was the farthest thing from hopeful when it all ended. He totaled 249 tackles and 2.5 sacks over a three year span with Oakland. He will most notably go down as the player named in the blockbuster trade that sent Randy Moss from Minnesota to Oakland in 2005 along with some draft picks.

The player drafted directly after Harris at 24th overall was Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed, who was taken by the Baltimore Ravens and went on to be one of the greatest defensive backs in NFL history.