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MVN writers mock draft: 4. Oakland Raiders - DE Vernon Gholston, Ohio State

NFL

By Patrick Patterson

After much debate, Rob and I came to the agreement that with the fourth pick in the MVN Writers’ Mock Draft we would select Vernon Gholston, DE, THE Ohio State University. We were leaning towards Ryan Clady for most of the debate, but it came down to two factors. First, the quarterback must go down and he must go down hard. The Raiders only have three defensive ends on the roster and having a player with Gholston’s measurables would be too tantalizing to Al Davis to pass up.

The Rams took our top prospect off the board, when they grabbed Chris Long. He was going to be the perfect second generation Raider. With him gone, Rob and I agreed that the lines needed to be reinforced. We were all but set to go with Ryan Clady, OT Boise State, because we are impressed with his combination of size and athleticism. It is said that with the zone blocking system you can get linemen in later rounds and plug them in a la Denver. The issue is that last year’s JaMarcus Russell is a $70 million investment in the future of the Raiders, and the Raiders need to protect him. If you drive a beat up 86 Mustang, any low cost insurance will do, but if you have a brand new Mustang Shelby 500 KR, then it’s time to go AllState or State Farm and get top of the line full coverage. We chose to believe that with our quarterback investment, we are in good hands with (offensive line coach) Tom Cable.

One of Al Davis’ favorite sayings is, “The quarterback must go down, and go down hard.” We wanted Chris Long, but he was gone early. Vernon Gholston is the next DE on the board. I can just hear Lane Kiffin saying of Gholston, “We are excited to have a player of his athleticism who will get to the quarterback.”

This has all the makings of an Al Davis pick. Gholston is a workout beast with a high upside that fits right into a position of weakness on the Raiders. We do have some concern over his work ethic, and how well his skills will transfer from college to being a pro defensive end, but feel that defensive line coach Kieth Millard will be able to mold him into the player he can be.

Gholston will make a great bookend with Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Burgess, and that will make the cornerback tandem of Nnamdi Asomugha and DeAngelo Hall that much more lethal. Quarterbacks will not have time to hope that receivers can get any separation as Aso and Hall will have their guys in tight coverage. The middle of the field will not be welcoming as linebackers Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison, who combined for 10 interceptions last season, will be lying in wait.

Patrick Patterson is a columnist on MVN’s Oakland Raiders site, Thoughts From the Dark Side.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Mock Drafts 2008, Vernon Gholston, 2008 NFL Draft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.