My Michael Crabtree Blog

After months of analysis and projections leading up to the April 25-26 NFL draft followed by days of draft recap and team grades, we focus on what really matters to us; how the draft affects our fantasy football leagues. While we may have thoughts on the absurdity of the contracts signed by high draft picks, it has no effect on our fantasy football team's payroll. Players may have been drafted higher or lower than projected, but that has no impact on where they will be drafted in our leagues. What matters most to us is if the player will play and if it will be this year or in upcoming years.   Let's take a quick spin through the NFC and look at each team's new additions that could factor into our fantasy football drafts.

Arizona - The Cards happily grabbed RB Chris "Beanie" Wells with the first pick in the second round. He will play immediately as Edgerrin James was released and Tim Hightower appears to be best suited as a goal-line back. Beanie should be drafted in one-season in rounds 4-5 in standard 12-team leagues and rounds 3-4 in Keeper leagues.

Atlanta - Eight picks, all on defense. So, obviously, the Falcons D is the only position that improved. They have some solid additions to support their corners as well as help John Abraham, especially DT Peria Jerry, S William Moore and DE Lawrence Sidbury. This will propel them into the top half of draftable defenses.

Carolina - DE Everette Brown and S Sherrod Martin will help the defense a bit, though not near as much as keeping Julius Peppers will. Their defense should remain in the same draft position.

Chicago - The Bears did pretty well considering they only drafted on Day 2. WR Juaquin Iglesias is a nice addition to a weak receiving core and could be a productive late round pick on draft day. DT Jarron Gilbert will help the Bears D out a bit, though not altering their draft position.

Dallas - The Cowboys traded their way into a lot of worthless picks. Even though the Cowboys had no draftable backup QB last year, I do not believe that QB Stephen McGee is in that category this year. If you draft QB Tony Romo, your backup should be a starting QB on another team.

Detroit - QB Matthew Stafford is giddy knowing that he will be given the reigns to a winless team, so the bar for success in worm-high. It also brings a rare smile to his face when he envisions WR Calvin Johnson in his huddle. However, he is still a rookie QB on a winless team, so don't pick him as your number 1 QB. He should be drafted higher in Keeper leagues. TE Brandon Pettigrew is a must-draft TE in later rounds.

Green Bay - Green Bay's D was productive in the TD category last season, but was a bit of a sieve. Adding DT B.J. Raji and LB Clay Matthews enhances this position a few rounds. 

Minnesota - The Vikings grabbed WR Percy Harvin to add a new dimension to their offense. The kid can flat-out play, if he adjusts to life in the Twin Cities. I would definitely recommend picking him up in early double-digit rounds.

New Orleans - The Saints' D was startable at certain times last season coming off the waiver wire. That will change a bit this year with the additions of CB Malcolm Jenkins and S Chip Vaughn. I feel good recommending drafting them in the last round.

New York Giants - The G-Men addressed their biggest need right away by drafting WR Hakeem Nicks. He should be drafted in early double digit rounds. I would recommend a late round handcuff of RB Andre Brown if you draft Brandon Jacobs. RB Derrick Ward is now on Tampa so Brown will be taking over for him.

Philadelphia - Philly will have the most rookies drafted this year. They landed WR Jeremy Maclin, TE Cornelius Ingram and RB LeSean McCoy. Maclin may be a DeSean Jackson clone in play making ability, which is good if he waits until he crosses the goal line to celebrate his scores. Ingram will be a favorite target of McNabb when he needs a tough catch across the middle and McCoy is a must-draft handcuff to Westbrook.

Seattle - LB Aaron Curry will definitely help Seattle on defense, but makes no difference in fantasy land. WR Deon Butler was drafted to replace Bobby Engram, but I see no reason to draft him unless you are in a really deep league.

San Francisco - The Niners get a gift in picking up WR Michael Crabtree with the 10th pick. He is the class of the receiving group and will be a flat-out receiving stud in the NFL. I don't think you'll get him if you wait until the middle rounds of your draft. You especially want to grab him early in your Keeper Leagues. In addition to Crabtree, the Niners picked up RB Glen Coffey who should be your handcuff to Frank Gore.

St. Louis - The Rams picked up T Jason Smith to replace Orlando Pace and will show immediate dividends in the passing and running game as Pace is vastly overrated and almost stationary nowadays. That being said, Marc Bulger is a late draft pick and Steven Jackson is still a first round pick. As much as I love LB James Laurinaitis, he doesn't make the Rams D draftable in any format.

Tampa Bay - Good luck with QB Josh Freeman. If he only played as well as he talks. He has the size for an NFL QB (6' 6"), but I don't even recommend drafting him in a Keeper League.

Washington - The Skins further enhanced their defensive front by drafting DE Brian Orakpo. In addition to line help, they also grabbed two LBs and CB Kevin Barnes. This greatly enhances the attraction of the Washington D and moves them into the top 8-10 defenses to draft.

Bill Parsons is the owner of MaximumFantasySports.com and a rabid fantasy sports participant. He began creating his own football and baseball fantasy leagues at the ripe old age of seven; tracking stats and standings on paper. Bill decided to create a real-time fantasy football league website that includes all of the best features and some of which have never been attempted at any other website. Join Maximum Fantasy Sports today by visiting http://www.maximumfantasysports.com Membership is Free!

The 2009 NFL draft took place last weekend, on April 25 and 26. The first round saw some of the draft's top players finding a home for the season. Some of the picks were hardly surprising - Michael Stafford going to the Detroit Lions - while others defied expectations - Michael Crabtree was a later-than-anticipated number ten pick.

Let's take a look at some of the highlights of the first round.

#1 -Quarterback and projected top pick overall Matthew Stafford fulfilled his expectations. The Detroit Lions had already signed the 21-year-old to a six year contract with $41.7 million in guarantees. The Lions had a record-breaking season this year: 0-16, a losing feat no other team has accomplished in NFL history.

With a winless season wrought by Matt Millen, the Lions are looking to Stafford to pick up the franchise. At 6'3" and 237 lbs, and with a strong and accurate throwing arm that has brought 51 career touchdowns and 7,731 career yards, Stafford has the potential to become a franchise savior. Hopefully the new Lion will do better than Detroit's last top-pick quarterback, Joey Harrington.

Stafford left school a year early but is not expected to start the season. Nevertheless, he is ready to begin his career as a professional.

"I'm a competitive guy," Stafford said. "I'm going to try to get ready as quick as I can."

Stafford continues a trend in the NFL in which quarterbacks constitute top overall picks in the draft; in fact, 9 of the last 12 top picks have been quarterbacks. Time will tell whether Stafford continues to satisfy expectations during football season.

#4- Another potential for the Lions was taken in the top 5. Aaron Curry, a linebacker from Wake Forest, had discussed being the top overall pick with Detroit. Curry has an exceptional combination of height, weight, and speed for a linebacker, which, blended with his strong instincts, aggression, and overall effort, makes him an ideal player. Seattle was able to capture Curry at number 4.

#5 - The second quarterback to be chosen, Mark Sanchez of USC, was snatched by the New York Jets after they traded Cleveland for the 5th overall spot. Sanchez started at USC for just one season, leading the Trojans to a 12-1 season and a Rose Bowl win.

With the Jets, he will have to fill the shoes of retiring quarterback Brett Favre. The 6'3", 225 lb quarterback has a strong arm, intelligence, and leadership skills that make him a prize for the Jets West Coast Offense. His limited experience makes him a moderate risk, but he is undaunted.

"It's a very exciting time, a special time in my life," Sanchez explains, "so I'm excited to get things going."
#7- Captivated by his speed, the Oakland Raiders snagged Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey at number 7 overall. Although Heyward-Bey had the fastest 40-yard time in workouts, his undeveloped receiving skills make him something of a risk. Though he may take time to develop, with his incredible speed and height-weight combination, Heyward-Bey exhibits real potential.

#10- Michael Crabtree, who was the highest-rated receiver before the draft, completed the top ten when he was chosen by the 49ers. He lost the top ranking to Heyward-Bey, who was selected three spots before him. Although Crabtree lacks top-notch speed, he is still considered one of the best receivers in the draft, with an ability to catch almost anything thrown at him.

After only two seasons of football, Crabtree received the Biletnikoff Award. Now, in San Francisco, Crabtree aims high: "I got some big shoes to fill when I go to the 49ers, you know, with Jerry Rice. I am looking forward to that. I love challenges."

#12- Knowshon Moreno went number 12 to the Denver Broncos. Moreno rushed 1,400 yards last season to lead the SEC and was in the second-team for the All-American players. Although Moreno lacks the breakaway speed possessed by topnotch backs in the NFL, he has great instincts and good vision that make him an excellent top pick for the Broncos.

#19- The Eagles were able to choose receiver Jerry Maclin from Missouri at number 19 after the Browns traded the pick for number 21 and a second 6th round pick. In 2008, Maclin was able to score 12 touchdowns, along with 1,260 receiving yards.

#27- The Indianapolis Colts selected Dan Brown at number 27. Brown was the 2008 Big East offensive player of the year at Connecticut, and, with over 2000 rushing yards last year alone and 3,800 career rushing yards, leads the NCAA. He also holds the distinction of being the University of Connecticut's first player to be drafted in the first round.

Overall, the first round saw 19 offensive and 13 defensive players drafted - 15 of whom were underclassmen - for a grand total of 32 players.

About the Author:
Cindy Ferguson is a high-ranking sports writer, currently writing reviews on NFL Football for the sports betting industry. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, making sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

The Eagles will come into this game with a chance to clinch a playoff spot (with some help). This is a 49ers team riding high off a victory against the Cardinals but I think it was as much of the Cardinals giving away the game as the 49ers taking it. However, the Eagles don't need to play down to this team because if they do they'll end up the same as the Cardinals. The 49ers have a lot of young talent, they are still just trying to figure out how to put it all together. If the Eagles come out and play the way they have been the past couple weeks, they shouldn't have trouble putting this team away.

Here's some quick team stats and league rankings:

Offense

Points per game: 20.7 (18th)

Yards per game: 288.6 (27th)

Pass yards per game: 189.8 (22nd)

Rush yards per game: 98.8 (24th)

Defense

Points per game: 18.6 (8th)

Yards per game: 338.6 (18th)

Pass yards per game: 243.6 (27th)

Rush yards per game: 95 (5th)

Offense

Alex Smith - Smith is one of those guys who has struggled to find success in the NFL. He has been given another chance this year in San Francisco and is finding a mild success. His rating is higher than in years past (although not stellar) and his touchdown to interception ratio is better (still not stellar). However, I think he is finding some rhythm with Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree who are two talented young players. The Eagles can't let him get the ball to these guys too often as they're both capable of making big plays.

Frank Gore - The Eagles number one priority on Sunday is going to be to shut down Frank Gore. He had a great game against Arizona last week and will look to repeat the effort against the Eagles. If the 49ers open up a run game early, it sets up Smith to get things done through the air. The Birds can't let Gore run all over them and need to force Smith to try and beat them with his arm. Defensively, the team must tackle better than last week and this starts with bringing down Gore.

Michael Crabtree - He arrived late on the scene but already has more receptions, yards, and touchdowns than Darrius Heyward-Bey who was drafted above him. Crabtree is consistently catching three to six passes a game and has found the end zone twice over the last four weeks. You can't deny the guys talent no matter how big of a hassle he made for the 49ers. He's not a stud yet, but he has the potential. The secondary will need to keep an extra close eye on him and not allow him to do anything big.

Vernon Davis - Even though he's a tight end, Davis it he 49ers number one receiver and is having a great year. Among tight ends, he is first in the NFC is receiving yards (815) and first in the NFL in touchdowns (11). This is scary because the Eagles always struggle to cover the tight end position. The defense can't let this guy get open too often and keep drives going or make big plays. It's a given that he's going to get his touches, but they need to be held to a minimum.

Defense

3-4 Defense - This is going to be the first 3-4 defense the Eagles see since they played the Chargers back in the middle of November. I don't think it's a huge deal, but I'm sure there are definite changes in the blocking scheme. We'd definitely like to see the Eagles have a successful run game so the lineman are going to need to communicate well and get good blocks on the linebackers.

Linebackers - Former Eagles Takeo Spikes lines up as one of the middle men in this scheme but he's not the one I'm worried about. Next to him is the pure tackling machine Patrick Willis who leads the NFL in tackles and always finds his name way up there on the leader board. The guys is a monster and is someone the Eagles will really need to get good blocks on if they want to be successful in the run game. With three games left, he's only nine tackles behind his mark from last year and has already tied his record for sacks in a season. The Eagles offense is going to need to pay close attention to wherever #52 is on the field.

Secondary - This secondary didn't allow Kurt Warner to throw a single touchdown last week while intercepting him twice. They do have talent, and we get to see another ex-Eagle in Michael Lewis at one of the safety positions. The Eagles offense has had a lot of success hitting on big plays this year so you know they're going to look to do that on Sunday. Establishing a run game should help set up the big play. However, I don't think this secondary is good enough to shut down the weapons we have all afternoon. I expect Donovan to be able to do some big things against this secondary.

Special Teams

I'll be interested to see if the 49ers willingly kick to DeSean Jackson after the damage he did against the Giants. If I were them, I wouldn't be kicking to him. I'd like to see Macho Harris get the Eagles some nice starting field position on kick returns. On the other side, the Eagles can't allow the 49ers to have a big play on special teams because this can really get a whole team fired up.

www.BirdsFan.com - A Philadelphia Eagles blog

Goodbye Texas. Hello Alabama. It is now the Crimson Tide that have become the No. 1 coveted target in the nation for big-time college football programs in America.

The Texas Longhorns, who were No. 1, took on their 4th top-ranked team in consecutive weeks and came up short on the road Saturday (11-1-08) in Lubbock to No. 6 Texas Tech 39-33 on a scoring play that never should have happened with 1 second left.

In a Texas-style shootout, the Longhorns trailed 19-0 and rallied to take a 33-32 lead on Vondrell McGee's 4-yard touchdown run with only 1:29 to play. That gave just a little too much time left for the Red Raiders' Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, two gifted athletes on a mission few others would dare to take.

With virtually no time left and 28 yards from pay dirt, Harrell found himself surrounded by nasty Longhorns and out of time with Crabtree in double coverage and no room to even turn around. So what does a great quarterback do? He throws high into double coverage, hoping his All-American wide receiver is as great as Harrell thinks he is.

Michael Crabtree does not disappoint either his teammates or himself. He rises to the challenge, grabs the rock with sure hands, breaks the wannabe arm tackle of a sophomore cover back trying to strip the ball, and takes a couple of steps into the end zone and the game clock shows 1 second left.

Amazingly, Crabtree stays in bounds as thousands and thousands of screaming, delirious fans pour onto the field of play. It is sheer bedlam as fans begin to rip down the goal post at one end of the field, and the officials on the field try to restore order for the extra-point attempt and final kickoff to Texas to eliminate the one second left on the clock.

This is college football in America on a Saturday afternoon. A major university with thousands of fans who have suffered through the dominance of Texas and Oklahoma teams for too many years. This is their moment of glory and they will not be denied. It is the competitive spirit of America in its finest hour, their years of hardship and agony are over and their 15 minutes of fame and glory have arrived.

All of the Texas Tech fans, players and coaches need to party down big-time because Texas Tech's season is not over. The Red Raiders will now run a gauntlet somewhat similar to the one that the Longhorns faced as 8-1 Oklahoma State and 8-1 Oklahoma lie ahead and a lesser-light Baylor team lurks in the background.

The drama of this game could not have been higher. Texas Tech only needed a field goal to win the game, but could not rely on its kicker to convert from some 40 yards out. Not only was Harrell's pass into double coverage over the top, and even though Crabtree made a great catch, had he been tackled short of the end zone or gone out of bounds, it is unlikely in the moment that the Red Raiders could have called a time out and still had enough time to set up for a game-winning field goal try.

"All we needed was a field goal, but a touchdown's even sweeter," said Raider quarterback Graham Harrell after the game. "If you're a quarterback and don't want to be in that situation, you should change positions." Harrell finished with 474 yards passing and 2 touchdowns while completing 36 of 53 attempts.

Was this really THAT big of a win for Texas Tech? Yes it was. The Red Raider win over Texas was the biggest win in Texas Tech history and its first win against a No. 1-ranked team. The victory gave them command of the Big 12 South and put them smack in the middle of the race for a spot in the national championship game.

And just how close was Texas to winning? How about 1 second among 60 minutes of play? Or the fact that on the play prior to Crabtree's winning 28-yard TD catch, freshman safety Blake Gideon dropped what would have been a game-ending interception on a tipped pass. That single drop meant Harrell could make the dangerous decision to throw into double coverage to Crabtree. The rest is now history.

The win vaulted No. 6 Texas Tech past Penn State, Florida and Oklahoma into the No. 2 spot in this week's AP Top 25 Poll. For Texas Tech fans around the world, this rise to prominence came none too soon.

The reason Alabama vaulted from No. 2 in the AP rankings to the top spot is because the Crimson Tide shut out Arkansas State Saturday 35-0, scoring in every quarter and looking every bit as if they should be No. 1.

Coach Nick Saban has quickly become better than the gold standard in Alabama. Saban has taken the Crimson Tide to the No. 1 ranking in the nation in only his second year at Tuscaloosa.

Saban is the highest paid coach in college football ($32 million for 8 years). Many fans and boosters at Alabama believe Saban is worth every penny of it and now you know why.

Saban turned around Michigan State's program in one year and went to 3 bowl games in his first 3 years. He turned around Louisiana State's program in one year, won or shared 3 SEC titles, went to bowl games all 5 years and won the National Championship in 2003. He turned around Alabama in his first season last year and went to a bowl game. Now his Crimson Tide players are 9-0 and in the hunt for a spot in this year's national championship game.

No. 5 Florida recorded a huge win on the road at No. 8 Georgia, putting some major hurt on the Bulldogs, 49-10. Since their unexpected lack of focus and 31-30 loss to Mississippi, Coach Urban Meyer's Gators have gone ballistic croc hunting, ripping apart Arkansas 38-7, LSU 51-21 and Kentucky 63-5 before hosting Georgia.

Apparently the Gators have become so savage that they will rip apart their victims but also drink their blood in their quest to get into the national championship game. The next victim to visit Gainsville this coming Saturday is the Vanderbilt Commodores, who had better order up tons of anti-crocodile spray. The Gators mean business.

Both Texas and Georgia lost to top-ranked teams. Texas Tech, Alabama and Florida were among 13 of the 20 AP Poll teams to win this week, 7 others-including Texas and Georgia which played top-ranked teams--lost and 5 teams were idle. No. 3 Penn State, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 18 Ball State, No. 21 North Carolina and No. 25 Maryland were all idle.

The other ranked teams which won big and made a statement included:

No. 4 Oklahoma at home in a waltz over Nebraska 62-28 (the Sooners led 62-21 after 3 quarters), No. 7 Southern Cal on the road shut out Washington 56-0 (the Huskies are dead and waiting for fired head coach Tyrone Willingham to get on down the road), No. 9 Oklahoma State at home over Iowa State 59-17 (the Cowboys scored in every quarter), No. 11 Boise State at home shut out New Mexico State 49-0 (the Broncos scored in every quarter against what we think is a team in the southwest), No. 12 TCU on the road over UNLV 44-14, and No. 15 LSU at home over Tulane 35-10.

Four other ranked teams won but were hardly impressive. They included:

No. 10 Utah on the road over weak, unranked New Mexico 13-10 (the 9-0 unbeaten Utah Utes are overrated big-time and may find that out this week when they clash with 9-1 TCU), No. 14 Missouri on the road over unranked Baylor 31-28 (the now toothless Tigers take down a 3-win Baylor team), No. 17 BYU on the road over weak, unranked Colorado State 45-42 (the Cougars are hardly ferocious, they gave up 32 points to TCU, 35 to UNLV and now 42 to Colorado State after beating a winless 0-8 Washington team 28-27 earlier in the season), and No. 22 Michigan State at home over Wisconsin 25-24 (it's true that Wisconsin may well be the best 4-5 team in the country, but the Spartans should have won by two touchdowns).

Five other ranked teams committed the unpardonable sin of losing to an unranked team. They included:

No. 16 Florida State lost on the road to Georgia Tech 31-28, No. 19 and unbeaten Tulsa lost on the road to Arkansas 30-23 (Tulsa is the newest most overrated team in 1-A football, Illinois lost that title by promptly losing 4 games), No. 20 Minnesota lost at home to Northwestern 24-17, No. 23 Oregon lost on the road to California 26-16, and No. 24 South Florida lost on the road to Cincinnati 24-10.

Dropping out of the AP Top 25 Poll on Sunday (11-2-08) were Minnesota (the Golden Gophers are 7-2 and a real surprise in the Big Ten), South Florida (overrated all season), Oregon (overrated all season) and Tulsa (grossly overrated all season). Good luck to all on your way out the door.

Playing their way back into the AP Poll this week were the No. 20 West Virginia Mountaineers (they beat Connecticut), the No. 21 California Bears (they beat Oregon), the No. 22 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (they beat Florida State) and the No. 25 Pittsburgh Panthers (they beat Notre Dame 36-33 in the 4th overtime).

The only 6 unbeaten teams remaining include Alabama, Texas Tech, Penn State, Utah, Boise State and Ball State. In other games of note this week:

Oregon State barely beat Arizona State 27-25 in a really nasty, tough, sometimes dirty Pac 10 encounter. A 2-8 Idaho team put 24 points on the board and only lost by 6 points to a 6-3 San Jose State team. The Idaho Vandals are not the worst team in America, that title belongs to the 0-9 winless, hopeless Washington Huskies followed closely by the hapless, beyond hopeless 1-8 Washington State Cougars.

Also formerly winless North Texas posted its first win of the season on the road over 1-AA Western Kentucky 51-40. The Purdue Boilermakers did the entire Midwest a favor by whipping Michigan 48-42, ensuring that Michigan will have to suffer through its first losing season in 40 years and an end to its streak of 33 consecutive bowl game appearances.

From my perspective as a Michigan State graduate, any week that Michigan State wins and Michigan loses is a glorious week, thus far that glorious occurrence has happened 5 times this season and could happen twice more "Lord willing and the creek don't rise".

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, interesting articles on college football, including:

"College Football - Week 9 - Texas Handles Unbeaten Oklahoma State, and Penn State Whips Ohio State"

"College Football - Week 8 - Top 6 Teams Remain on Top, Led by Unbeaten Texas, Alabama & Penn State"

"College Football - Week 7 - Only 10 Undefeated Teams Remain - Oklahoma, Missouri and LSU All Lose"

"College Football - Week 6 - AP's Top 25 Welcomes North Carolina, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Ball State"

"College Football - Week 5 - 9 AP Top 25 Teams Lose, 6 to Unranked Teams, No. 1 USC, No. 3 Georgia & No. 4 Florida All Lose"

"College Football - Week 4 - 14 Teams Suffer Their First Defeat - Auburn, East Carolina, Oregon & Florida State All Lose"

"College Football - Week 3 - Let There Be No Doubt: USC Crushes Ohio State 35-3 and Is Clearly No. 1"

"College Football - Week 2 - East Carolina Smacks West Virginia, Upsets Its 3rd Straight Ranked Team"

"College Football - Week 1 - No. 24 Alabama Stuns No. 9 Clemson, East Carolina Upsets No. 17 Virginia Tech"

Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/Sports.html

Well the 2009 NFL draft is over with and the Oakland Raiders sure made a lot of people including myself scratch their head. It is clearly evident that Al Davis values nothing more than speed when evaluating players. Sure, Darius Heyward-Bey ran the fastest 40 time at the combine but what does that really prove? The NFL is about so much more than pure speed (although it does help) and some of the best receivers in the game do not warrant the word "burner" being associated with them. First, I cannot for the life of me figure out why the Raiders passed on Michael Crabtree when he was sitting their right in their lap. Furthermore, if Davis REALLY wanted Heyward-Bey why didn't he trade down in the draft to get him?

Two principles are in question here. First is Mr. Davis' ability to properly evaluate talent at this stage of his life. Moreover, his managing of drafts is also under serious scrutiny after last weekends debacle. The Raider Nation is not happy I can tell you that. I am not knocking Heyward-Bey at all but he was the 5th or 6th ranked receiver on every one's board. Sure, he is fast but his hands are inconsistent at best.

Now, to his defense the NFL is a whole different animal and NOBODY knows how this will all work out over time. With Crabtree fittingly winding up across the Bay in SF the 2 rookie WR's will be compared to their entire careers. I am open minded about Heyward-Bey and now the Raiders have their version of the triplets set. We needed a big play receiver and now we have one and it will be up to Russell to get him the ball deep and accurately. I did see an interview on NFL Network and Heyward-Bey seems like a good kid who is ready to start working. It does concern me however that he mentioned that he has not talked to QB JaMarcus Russell yet.

Here is my take on the Raiders garbage draft:

2009 NFL Draft Picks:

7. Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland

--Very limited production at Maryland to go with extremely inconsistent hands. Moreover, Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin were both on the board. Grade: F

47. Michael Mitchell, SS, Ohio

--I truly don't understand this pick. Oh wait a minute, yes I do. Mitchell ran a great 40 at the combine and that was enough for Al. This is absolutely a horrible pick. Mitchell was a sixth-round prospect at best and countless NFL executives had him pinned as an undrafted free agent. No solace in the fact that the Bears were apparently interested in Mitchell too. Hopefully this fires him up and turns him into a Pro Bowl player. Mitchell has to make multiple Pro Bowls for the Raider Nation to forget about this pick. Grade: F

71. Matt Shaughnessy, DE, Wisconsin

--Yet another total reach here by the Raiders. We need a defensive end, but similarly to Mitchell this guy was rated a 6th or 7th round prospect by most draft pundits. Time will tell but one has to wonder if he will even make the team. Grade: F

124. Louis Murphy, WR, Florida

--Finally - a player who isn't a reach. Good pick and ideally both him and Heyward-Bey produce this year. Any Gator is great value in the 4th round. Grade: B+

126. Slade Norris, OLB, Oregon State

--Very limited production at Oregon State and yet another head scratcher. There was much better talent still on the board. Grade: F

199. Stryker Sulak, DE, Missouri

--Nice pick here and Sulak is better than Shaughnessy that was drafted rounds before. Sulak is a quick pass-rusher who I expect to make the team and to contribute this year. Grade: B+

202. Brandon Myers, TE, Iowa

--His 40 time was lacking making you wonder if Al had left to go play bingo for the day. Grade: C

Overall Draft Grade: D-

Time will tell how this all plays out but the Raider Nation is not happy with Al and that is unusual because historically Raider fans have not questioned his judgment. These are different times in Raider land however and when you have a team that has not been competitive in years patience starts to wear thin. And after a draft like this patience is as thin as I can ever remember.

Chris Limburg is the fanatical purveyor of Gothicfootball.com: A Oakland Raider/fantasy football blog that provides commentary on everything that is the NFL and fantasy football. Visit today at: [http://www.gothicfootball.com]

According to the Oakland Tribune, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey had a practice that made his drop-filled opening sessions of a week ago seem like a distant memory. After taking a day off with a sore toe, Heyward-Bey caught everything that was thrown to him, including a difficult over-the-shoulder deep pass along the sideline from Charlie Frye that required a difficult in-flight adjustment.

"I thought maybe this was Darrius' best day in camp," Raiders head coach Tom Cable said. "Caught the ball well, caught everything, the underneath, the over the top, the big ball on the sideline, the one-handed catch. Those (help) his confidence. We want to keep that coming."

Hopefully DHB can continue to grow on his good day at practice and become the target that JaMarcus Russell will need this year for the Raiders to do well. By the way, how is Michael Crabtree coming along across the Bay? Did Al Davis know something that the rest of the NFL didn't when he picked DHB over Crabtree? As one fan puts it, "DHB has a fantastic work ethic and exactly the kind of attitude it takes to be a great player in the NFL."

All the flack that the Oakland raiders took for taking Darrius Heyward-Bey over Crabtree, and who is on the field? This move may turn out to be a very smart on considering that some sources have Crabtree sitting out the whole season.. Let's hope that Darrius Heyward-Bey proves "the critics" wrong and shows why he was selected in April's draft before Crabtree.

Written by Matt Loede from NFLGridronGab.com. NFL Gridiron Gab is your premier football blog, bringing you all the latest football news, predictions, tidbits and commentary.