Edweirdo's Oakland Raiders Report |
I admit I've been a bit obsessed with the Raiders getting a franchise back over the past couple years. I absolutely LOVED watching Garner play and was hoping that we'd get another franchise-type back.
Back in 2003, I watched Cadillac Williams (#24) a couple times and was very impressed. He showed vision, exploded out of cuts, picked up tough yards after contact and between the tackles, and had a second gear in the open field. He was clearly a natural talent. I thought it would be great to have Cadillac as the Raiders starting RB.
But when Cadillac opted to go back for his senior year in 2004, I had no hope that we'd be able to draft him in 2005, because Cadillac was projected to be a top 10 pick and we were going to have a winning season (right?)
Well, the 2004 campaign stunk, and now we're picking high enough that Cadillac might fall to us.
The ironic thing in all this? I saw Auburn play four or five games this year, and while Cadillac looked good as ever, I started noticing his backup Ronnie Brown (#23) more and more. Brown is huge (6-0, 230), has better open-field speed and is just as quick as Cadillac. And because of his receiving and pass protection skills he was Auburn's 3rd down back. He even lead blocked for Cadillac when they were in the backfield together. Brown is a complete, every-down RB.
The situation reminds me of Va Tech's backfield a few years back. Lee Suggs was the starter, and like Cadillac he was a bit undersized at 6-0 205 but terrific between the tackles and a gifted natural runner. Behind Suggs was Kevin Jones, a bigger, faster talent. It's now looking like Jones is going to have the better pro career between those two.
I can pick a number of guys who Cadillac reminds me of. E.g. Curtis Martin and Lee Suggs. I honestly can't think of an NFL RB that has the kind of scary raw talent that Brown has. I haven't seen a guy his size move the way he does.
I would be happy if either Cadillac or Brown is our 1st round pick. I have this strong gut that Brown is going to be the better pro. I also have this strong gut that if Brown has a monster Combine, the Raiders are going to rank him very high on their board, because Al loves great athletes.