Draft review: 1996
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Saturday, April 14th, 2007 at 11:58 am in Oakland Raiders.
Second in a series reviewing Raiders draft classes since they returned to Oakland in 1995:
1/9_Rickey Dudley, TE, Ohio State
2/57_Lance Johnstone, DE, Temple
5/166_La’Roi Glover, DT, San Diego State
6/183_Tim Hall, RB, Robert Morris
7/220_Sedric Clark, LB Tulsa
7/224_Darius Smith, C Sam Houston State
7/248_Joey Wylie, G. Stephen F. Austin
The top pick_The Raiders traded the No. 17 pick in the first round, along with their second-round choice and a fourth-round pick to move up eight spots and take Dudley, a spectacular physical specimen who had played just two years of college football and whose true love was basketball at Ohio State. While not a bust, Dudley never developed into freakish weapon the Raiders had hoped, catching 186 passes for 2,227 yards and 29 touchdowns from 1996 through 2000. His touchdown total was exceeded only by Tim Brown on the Raiders during that span.
Dudley’s hands were suspect, drops were frequent except for a 1997 season in which he caught 48 passes for 787 yards and 7 TDs and seemed to clock with quarterback Jeff George. Too aloof as a starter for Jon Gruden, who arrived in 1998, Dudley eventually left as a free agent to Cleveland in 2001 but eventually won a Super Bowl ring with Gruden for the Bucs against the Raiders in 2002 as a backup player.
Could have had_Eddie George, Dudley’s college teammate, who went at No. 14 overall to Houston (later to become Tennessee).
The find_Davis plucked Lance Johnstone, a raw outside linebacker out of perennial doormat Temple, and converted him into an excellent pass rushing defensive end in the second round. It was particularly embarrassing for the Bay Area rival 49ers, who, 11 spots earlier, spent their first pick (second round, 46 overall) on Israel Ifeanyi of USC, who never panned out.
Draft bargains_Glover was a bargain, but not for the Raiders. The smallish San Diego State defensive tackle spent most of his rookie season inactive, but was cut the following season in favor of Grady Jackson. In retrospect, the Raiders probably should have kept both men. Glover went on to become a Pro Bowl player in New Orleans and Dallas.
After Glover, the ‘96 class contributed little if anything. Hall was shot and killed in a shooting in Kansas City after he left the Raiders.
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April 14th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Rickey Dudley was such a headache. The guy would show flashes of talent but the amount of dropped balls would kill me. Dudley would drop balls in the most crucial of times.
Lance Johnstone started a decent career with the Raiders but he couldn’t stop getting hurt so we finally let him go but then he went to the Vikings and stayed healthy and had some great seasons. That always seems to happen to the Raiders. Johnstone comes back to the Raiders and he starts getting hurt again. Figures.
La’Roi Glover turned into a mad man of a player. I don’t know how we let that guy slip through our fingers but he is an impressive football player. Had it not been for the change to the 3-4, the Cowboys would still have that guy on their roster and I’m sure they regret not having him.
Tim Hall sounds familiar but I don’t recall anything from him.
I don’t recall Sedric Clark, Darius Smith and Joey Wylie.
April 14th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/04/14/SPGS3P8GSO1.DTL
Briefly: Preseason home games against Arizona and St. Louis don’t have finalized dates yet, but two road games have been confirmed by the opposing team: Aug. 18 at San Francisco and Aug. 30 at Seattle. … The Raiders open training camp July 27 at Napa.
April 14th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Top pick QBs no sure bet for pro success
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/637538.html
“This is the classic dilemma right here,” Mayock said. “Quinn has a higher floor. You know what you’re getting with him. … Russell has most imposing physical skill set of any quarterback I’ve seen since John Elway. If he ever turns into what he could be, you’ll be looking at a perennial all-pro quarterback who can be as good as he wants to be. The problem is work ethic issues, and there’s not as much tape and you don’t know how much he loves the game. He has the higher ceiling, but Quinn has the higher floor.”
April 14th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
” a spectacular physical specimen who had played just two years of college football” Jerry wrote about Dudley. Dudley never developed into the physical freak we hoped. Sound familliar? Same discussion we’ve been having about Russell.On NFLN they pointed out that developing QB’s like Russell or Kolb (spread system college QB’s) can be a problem in the era of free agency. Groom them and watch them go elsewhere.
April 14th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
ESPN Insider (I would suggest paying for the 2 year subscriptions to this…You also get the magazine monthly…good deal)
DEBATE 1: If you take quarterbacks out of the equation, would you take WR Calvin Johnson or OT Joe Thomas with the No. 1 overall pick?
McShay: Ordinarily, I would take the elite offensive tackle over the elite wide receiver with the No. 1 pick. But there’s nothing ordinary about Johnson’s game-breaking pro potential. He possesses freakish natural ability, including a rare combination of size (6-5, 239 pounds), speed (4.39 in the 40) and leaping ability (42½-inch vertical leap). It was obvious Johnson was a man playing among boys in college — even as a true freshman full-time starter in 2004. In three seasons for the Yellow Jackets, Johnson racked up 2,927 yards and 28 touchdowns on 178 receptions. Just think if he were teamed with a quarterback who could complete 50 percent or more of his passes?
Kevin Terrell/WireImage.com
Calvin Johnson may be the closest thing to a can’t-miss prospect this year’s draft has to offer.
People can compare him to Terrell Owens and Randy Moss as much as they like, but they’re wrong. Johnson is faster than Owens and more physical than Moss — and he’s a better person than both of them combined. In talking to coaches, teammates, agents and even TV producers he has crossed paths with along the way, I have yet to hear a negative remark regarding Johnson’s work ethic, personality or character.
Finally, there’s the issue of durability. Johnson has battled minor ankle and hamstring tweaks, but he never missed significant playing time because of an injury in college.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
The 1996 draft of Dudley was a BUST. This is the same scenario with Russell, a PHYSICAL SPECIMEN. LOL… if the Raiders had taken Eddie George, they woulda had Super Bowl win number 4, George and Garner woulda ran the Bucs OUT of the stadium, regardless of Gruden knowlege of Gannon passing moves on fields. Just show drafting PHYSICAL SPECIMEN backfire for the Raiders.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Lance Johnson is the equivalent with Sam “injured all the time” Williams. Once injured always injured. Their bodies ain’t meant to play pro football… that’s my only answer.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Here is a list of players I believe should NOT be on the Raiders next year.
Quarshie, Michael DT 6-2 295 27 2 Columbia
This guy has not made an impact and I think we need bigger DT’s.
Brayton, Tyler DE 6-6 280 27 5 Colorado
I thought he would have a motor last year but proved me wrong. He had 16 games.
Irons, Grant LB 6-6 285 27 6 Notre Dame
6 year vet? Honestly. His father was great, his son is not…get over it.
Fargas, Justin RB 6-1 220 27 5 USC
He is what he is. 5 years to prove himself and hes prove injury prone. Thats it.
Whitted, Alvis WR 6-0 185 32 10 North Carolina State
Did James Jett not prove something to us? A waste of space.
Francis, Carlos WR 5-10 190 26 4 Texas Tech
When Whitted is gone, Francis could be the next Jett/Whitted.
Considerations include: Adam Treu, Sam Williams, Derrick Gibson, Lamont Jordan, Chad Slaughter, Courtney Anderson, James Adkisson, John Madsen & Randal Williams.
Chris Morris could replace Treu however Treu has always been there for us in the clutch and has hardly complained. Williams could stick due to his staying healthy and gaining experience last year. Gibson is strong against the run. Jordan gets slack for last year with the offense we had. Slaughter has produced one good game against Strahan…thats about it. Anderson could be a product of all the different coaches. There are too many Adkisson, Madsens and Williams guys trying to be TE/WR and its taking up too much of our roster. Are we looking for the next Antonio Gates or something? All these players are not cutting and need to get the heck out of here. Theres too many WR on this team…Kiffin finally brought in the blockers.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Drafting a TE is easy. The guy gotta have HANDS AND NOT DROP THE BALL. The size is over exaggerated IMO. Not taking a PHYSICAL SPECIMEN without the skills like Dudley.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Let’s say Raiders redo the draft taking George the main round selection. Raiders woulda had Kaufman, George, and Garner at RB. Super Bowl win number 4 for Raiders… easily!
April 14th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I stay with Fargus, Jordan, and Madsen. The others should just down right be CUT. The RB situation is sticky, if any RB gets injured Raiders need a backup in Fargus a BEST 3rd RB option, Jordan will get his yardage regardless if healthy, Madsen is good at TE cause he hold on to the Football.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I DOUBT if any team in the league will pick up the players CUT from the list except Jordan.They need the roster spot for contributing players.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Francis is a Jame Jett. ZERO impact, too small and gets tackle easily, just a fly pattern guy with speed…. nothing else.
April 14th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I gotta run.. cya all later on in the night.
April 14th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Johnstone created severe mismatches when line up against tackles early on in his career and excelled under the Gruden banner.
Current back on the Raider roster, his best days are behind him.
HUFF24:
Agree with most of your picks but think Slaughter should stay. Despite 5 seasons and no idea about snap counts, he dominates the line of scimmage and given a little more time may become a viable rotation guy.
I’d like to see Grant Irons stick around though we seem to have some depth at LB.
Hes shit in coverage and pass rushing but read and reacts well to runs and lays the lumber when given the opportunity.
Not sure about Lamont either. Think he may surprise some people if he stays healthy this year and return to 1,000 yd form.
Peace!
Adam Treu remains one of the finest long snappers in the game and in that capacity, earns a roster spot everytime.
Courtney Anderson is one who is on the bubble. This year will determine his viablity to the Raiders attack.
Crustin Fart-gas needed to vacate 3 yrs ago. Won’t play dinged and runs like a scalded ape. His out of control running style leads to his all too frequent injuries and turn overs.
April 14th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Hey, Huff24? Try to keep with the topic, will you? Nobody cares what you think about qb’s at this time. Comment on topic, 1996 draft or relevant subject. Sheeesh. Some people.
April 14th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I agree that the dudley pick reminds me of jamarcus russell. Has freakish physical talent, but but is still a question mark in fundamentals and dedication.
April 14th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
CT, you’re crackin’ me up, man. Eric Zeier!?!
I really hope for your sake that you researched that one and didn’t pull it from the memory bank. If you didn’t research it, your’re sicker than me, and I really didn’t think that was possible.
Thanks for the laugh.
April 14th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
hey huff24 who cares what you believe about who should be on or off the raiders, don’t you think the coaches and mastermind have more game film and know more about football than you, or do you believe you are smarter. or, is your ego really as big as it seems it is.
April 14th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
glad i’m not the only one who thinks you just need too shut up huff lol
April 14th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Ricky “hands of Stone” Dudley. What a bust! Courtney Anderson, a true Ricky Dudley clone. Neither worth the powder to blow them away. What happened to the Raiders ability to develop great TE’s? Cannon, Casper, Chester, Christensen - all great TE’s. I cringe when I remember Dudley. Enough said.
April 15th, 2007 at 1:08 am
I agree totally with Huff24… I hope we’d get rid of all the players listed except Lamont Jordan. Yeah… people don’t LIKE him, but he’d gets his yardage regardless, that’s what counts not his personality, etc. The same with Moss. They both might not win the Popularity contest but it’s what they do on the field that counts the Moss. Huff got some serious GOOD POINTS regarding this lazy team, Raiders got nothing to lose CUT players that don’t help the team win.. they 2-14 record is enough said!
April 15th, 2007 at 1:11 am
LOL… imagine if we’d had Eddie George from day 1 of the 1996 draft. This team be so ahead and winning playoffs and Super Bowls, the guy is durable and plays with POWER, he’s a straight up RB. So much for the pundits!
April 15th, 2007 at 1:33 am
I’m sorry, Charlie Murphy.
April 15th, 2007 at 5:17 am
I didn’t realize that we are only allowed to comment on the article itself and nothing else that pertains to the Raiders.
April 15th, 2007 at 5:45 am
RFB - sad to say, I did remember Zeier from memory. In case you want to look up all of your SEC heroes, here is a link to the draft since 1982. Enjoy!
http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/drafts
April 15th, 2007 at 5:52 am
Speaking of draft history, since 1970 15 QB’s were chosen with the #1 overall pick. The success rate is very high. Vick, Carr, Eli Manning and Alex Smith are 4 of those. To a degree, the jury is still out on them. I don’t think that Vick has any chance of making it up to average though. To me he is below average, as a QB anyway. None of this tells us whether JR or Quinn is the one who will be the success vs the one that will bust however. Here is the link -
http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/ones
April 15th, 2007 at 6:38 am
CT… thanks for posting that link. I had mentioned that earlier, and there IS a very big difference between the success rates of #1 overall and first-round QBs in general. In fact, going back to 1970, the success rate for QBs selected first overall is higher than at any other position.
I have to admit, though, that the folks that have compiled the stats on junior QBs coming out early has me a little spooked.
We’ll see, I guess. Gotta run… have a good day everybody.
April 15th, 2007 at 7:01 am
RFB - The success rate of junior QBs going pro SHOULD concern everyone, especially the Raiders. With those odds, its gotta be Quinn over JR if the Raiders select a QB, CJ if they go BPA.
April 15th, 2007 at 9:09 am
I Believe The Guy With The freakish skills in this draft id Wide Reciever Calvin Branch. You Just Don’t Pass On A guy with His Talent And Work Ethic He Will Be A Positive In The Locker Room And On the Field. This Guy Will Be A Leader , Can’t say Thatr About Jamarcus.
April 15th, 2007 at 11:20 am
The success rate for junior QB’s should concern Raider fans; it isn’t good.
The success rate for spread offense QB’s coming to the NFL isn’t good either. Vick is an example of a spread QB who has never adapted to the pro game. There are many others.
Character issue players also tend to play out just as scouted.
The biggest risk with Russell is if he doesn’t have a complete meltdown and we ride him into mediocrity waiting on his potential the way Atlanta has done with Vick. People talk about Leaf but at least he stank from the start so he only messed up SD for two seasons.
April 15th, 2007 at 11:28 am
“Speaking of draft history, since 1970 15 QB’s were chosen with the #1 overall pick. The success rate is very high. Vick, Carr, Eli Manning and Alex Smith are 4 of those. To a degree, the jury is still out on them.” - CT
I’d agree the jury is out on Eli and Smith. Carr is gone from the team that drafted him now so any future success is irrelevant. Carr was a flop and Vick is a flop as #1. A steal if he was taken in the 3rd round but as a #1 he’s a flop.
The list of #1 success is not as good as people are letting on. For example Plunkett was a bust for NE. The key to draftinga is improving YOUR team - not somebody else’s.
April 15th, 2007 at 11:36 am
did anyone read the post by stirling, in the comments of the 95 draft review, on his conspiracy theory about Barrett Robbins? Man I got to say glazier is one of the richest men in the world, and how did he get that way? I wonder, but I’m sure he has brass balls, and I bet he would do something exactly like this. I think he would stop at nothing to get his way and we all know how much he wanted to win the super bowl. he wants to win a championship in every major sports league I’m sure, i mean he’s going after the FA cup right now. The only thing I think is, that Al Davis made the mistake he should have taken steps to ensure the safety of Robbins not Callahan. Pretty interesting theory I must say.
April 15th, 2007 at 11:43 am
I’ll give you Bartkowski and Bledsoe as “successful for the team that drafted them”. That would make QBs since 1970 6 of 12 - 50%. Bradshaw, Bartkowski, Aikman, Bledsoe, Manning, Palmer. Elway turned into a wasted pick for BALTIMORE, Plunkett and Carr flopped at the team that drafted them. Couch - please. Vick “coach killer”. Jeff George - hey we can get him!
In fact - EVERY #1 QB still in the NFL on the list above was available this off season. (Vick by trade rumor)
Since free agency #1 draft pick QB’s have won exactly ONE Super Bowl for the team that drafted them - P Manning.
April 15th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
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April 15th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Coach… I think you might be padding your stats a little. Elway was traded to the Donks and never played a down for Baltimore. Plunkett was the victim of two horrible teams and, if I remember correctly, didn’t do too badly once he got a team around him. Also, I hope you can provide some evidence that Manning and Palmer were on the trading block, because if that were true I’m pretty sure I would have noticed. Bledsoe doesn’t really count, either, as he was at the end of his career. I posted awhile back a list of overall #1 QBs that either won SBs, played in the Pro Bowl, or both. The ratio (less Eli and Alex Smith) was exactly three to one in favor of success.
I understand your wanting to make a point, but please try to be a little more accurate.
April 15th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
To continue, just because the team that drafts the QB #1 is hopeless, it doesn’t mean the player is. New England and the Niners were awful and remained that way while JP was there, but I think he showed by his subsequent performance with the Raiders that it was his former teams that busted, not him. Elway flat out TOLD the Colts he would never play for them and they drafted him anyway. Not his fault, I think.
The Pro Bowl stat may be more telling than the Super Bowl one, simply because no matter how good a QB is, if his organization sucks or is just missing other critical pieces, he’s not going to win the big one by himself…
April 15th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Sorry. I shouldn’t be in such a hurry to push the “submit comment” button. Although not overall number ones, I would point to Marino and Fouts to validate my last point.
April 16th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Have we all missed something here, or is it just me? Let Bruce Allen have our no. one in exchange for their 2 thru 5 and then pick up Gaine Adams from Clemson. He appears to be the best d end to come along in awhile. Warren’s not getting any younger and one year with his tutaledge! Could you I magine Burgess on one end and Adams on the other?
April 16th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Hey stirling,
Lay off my boy huff24 ya basher.
Nice football insight by the way.
Find something original to say instead of bashing anyone who does.
“Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean its not true.”
MVH
April 16th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I agree with JB. Dudley and Courtney Anderson are painful to watch, even for those too young to remember Casper and Christensen. And the idiocy of trading UP to get a Ricky Dudley and a Darrell Russell in back to back years only reinforces my hope that the Raiders will seriously consider trading down this year. I know, I know, Al never trades down. But 2-14 calls for some fresh thinking.