Sports Radio Service


		NFL Draft report By David Zizmor April 25, 2008

	OAKLAND--The way the NFL draft works these days the top ten picks and the guaranteed money that players get these days are so much compared to the lower round picks. That it is really difficult to trade out of those top five spots and the Raiders are sitting at number four. Which means that player should get a guaranteed $15-20 million most teams do not want to be on the hook for that to a guy that is unproven. The Raiders might want to trade out but whether there are teams to make that move is a completely different story obviously at number four in the draft there are some excellent players everybody is interested in. The Raiders want to trade down and pick Darren McFadden from Arkansas the running back or you never know a quarterback like Matt Ryan will slip past the Falcons number three and putting the Raiders in a position to trade to anyone who wants to get Matt Ryan. Or there is Chris Long from Virgina Howie Long's son there are a really a number of good players and everyone seems to agree the top seven picks are of the highest quality but there is a drop off after number seven. If the Raiders get number four it means if they slip a little bit from the top three spots that somebody might want to trade up and talk to the Raiders. To be fair to the Raiders they obviously want a trade and they would like to trade down because they don't have any picks between the second and third rounds so if the Raiders trade out of that first round pick presumably they can trade a little bit lower in the first round and add a second and a third round pick and make out. The Raiders are a team in a lot of need they need those picks to fill those holes they have on the roster and part of that is because the Raiders have had a few mediocre drafts in the last few years but yes it's true they want to trade down but as in the case of the Raiders not very many teams may not want to trade with the Raiders because the number four pick is very expensive. The same reason why the Dolphins couldn't trade their number one pick. The Dolphins were 1-15 last season last year the Dolphins were a lousy team and obviously the Dolphins wanted to get more picks but nobody wants to take the number one pick when you have to pay like $30 Million it's just not going to happen. The Raiders don't quite have to deal with a $30 Million contract which the Raiders had to deal with like with JaMarcus Russell last season but it's still not a great position to be in when you have to pay initially $15-20 Million to a rookie. Taking a look at the 49ers: The 49ers are scheduled to pick the 29th player out of the draft. Like last year when your trying to select a late first round pick it's almost impossible. There are just too many variables in the draft to see who the 49ers have to pick. We can get to who the 49ers are going to pick and the wise positions for the 49ers to look at are the offensive tackles. This draft is suppose to be numbered with offensive tackles in this draft and one of those guys might available at number 29. The Niners have been looking at pass rushing outside line backers and they might be looking at inside linebackers someone who could pad Patrick Willis on the inside and maybe even a defensive lineman. If there is a really good wide receiver there don't be surprised to see the Niners take it but the Niners added so many wide receivers and free agents something that makes me think that their not going after a wide receiver in the first round of the draft unless there was somebody there of great value pick at number 29 it would be a surprise that the 49ers would pick a wide receiver. The 49ers could go with a quarterback also and you could never have too many corners but the biggest need for the 49ers is to beef up that offense line and get somebody to rush the passer this is something the 49ers ideally are looking at for the 29th choice the 49ers should have a good shot at it. David Zizmor is doing radio analysis for the NFL Draft for Sportstalk Radio.