Raiders start making Raider moves in the fourth round

The Oakland Raiders made sensible picks during the first three rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft. While many had the Raiders taking Maryland offensive tackle Bruce Campbell, but Oakland instead focused on players with better playing credentials that filled other needs. Finally in the fourth round, the Raiders began to make picks that everyone has become accustomed to seeing them make.

With their fourth round pick (#106), the Raiders selected Campbell as their second offensive tackle taken in the draft. Adding him with Veldheer gives the Raiders the two most athletic tackles from the NFL Combine this year.

Two picks later, the Raiders dropped their biggest bombshell of the draft when they traded up from pick #153 by giving the Jaguars that pick and their former starting middle linebacker, Kirk Morrison. That pick (#108) was used to pick the fastest wide receiver from the combine — Jacoby Ford from Clemson.

After the Raiders selected Rolando McClain with their first pick of the draft, speculation began that Morrison’s days were numbered. The middle linebacker was heavily criticized for the Raiders’ inability to stop the run. That criticism now seems to appear just, as the Raiders have now gone in a different direction. Soon after the trade, Morrison tweeted, “Good Morning. I’m a Jacksonville Jaguar.”

Ford ran a sub-4.30s 40-yard dash at the combine last month and was immediately predicted to move up on the Raiders draft board at the time. Some times have him running the 40 in 4.22s. He’s listed at 5’9″ and 186 pounds and was rarely asked to run routes across the middle.

The incoming rookie receiver ranks sixth all-time in Clemson history in receptions (143), career kickoff return yards (1,143), fourth in career touchdown receptions (16), and ranks first in rushing average (8.5 ypc) for players with at least 50 carries. Ford closed out his career with a 29-game streak in which he caught at least one pass.

While Ford has the speed to be an immediate deep threat for the Raiders, he’ll need to work on his route running and he occasionally lets balls into his chest, but has the skills to develop into a solid NFL receiver.

The 6’6″ Campbell is an enigma. He has some of the best physical tools of an offensive lineman in years, running the 40-yard dash in 4.85s while weighing in at 314 pounds. Should the Raiders develop his skills in the next few years, he has all the talent in the world to make himself one of the top offensive linemen in the NFL. The biggest issue with Campbell is his consistency.

At times, Campbell plays like a first-round offensive tackle, while at other times he looks more like the fourth-round pick that the Raiders made him. Against Cal in 2009, Jaguars’ first-round pick Tyson Alualu and company made Campbell look like a Div II offensive tackle on their way to recording six sacks and nine tackles for loss against Maryland in the season opener.

Despite Campbell’s questions, there is no question that the Raiders selecting him in the fourth round could be one of the best picks of the draft in two or three years.