Draft Review

by surfnturf90 Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:34 am

Scott Van Pelt - "This is Sports Center with a live look-in at the post-draft press conference of the Oakland Raiders"

Reporter 1 - "Coach Surf, what grade would you give yourself on the draft tonight?"

Surf - "Honestly, I think a B or a C. We had a list of players we wanted to target early on in the draft, and when a few of them got taken before we'd even had our 1st pick I think it kind of threw us all for a loop, and we may have overreacted. We definitely reached on some of our early picks, but we feel that we selected solid players who will hopefully have a big impact on the field for us, both for the upcoming season and many years into the future. Before the draft started, we had identified certain positions that we felt were going to be crucial to our success, and we aggressively went after players that fit into those spots."

Reporter 2 - "Coach, can you tell us more about the positions that you felt were the most important to grab early on in the draft?"

Surf - "With the CFL becoming more and more of a passing league, we wanted to make sure that we were able to slow down the opposing offenses air attack. We used 3 of our first 6 picks on physical CB's who also have decent speed, and our hope is that they will each be able to lock down whoever is lined up across from them on a weekly basis. With the other 3 picks, we took a QB, HB, and WR, because we wanted to have enough weapons that opposing defenses couldn't focus on stopping just one element of our attack."

Reporter 3 - "So if those positions are the strength of the team, what areas do you think are going to need the most help throughout the season?"

Surf - "Our offensive line is horrendous, but I'm confident that they can get the job done. Our LB's, TE's, and WR's have me worried though. Bowman and Spoon are two young guys with potential that we can build around, but the rest of our backers are mostly no-name guys that have a lot to prove. They all have raw talent, but it remains to be seen whether that will translate into production on the football field. Our TE's and WR's are probably the weakest positions right now, and if nobody steps up in the first couple weeks, we may have to consider trying to bring in some outside help. Big Meach gives us a vertical threat to keep defenses honest, but besides him, Matt Ryan doesn't have any real skilled targets to throw at. The guys all have speed which helps, but they are going to have to work hard to improve their route running and catching if they want to see and footballs come their way."

Reporter 4 - "Now that the draft is over and the season is underway, what are your expectations for this year?"

Surf - "I hate to say this because it's such a cliche, but we really are going to have to take this one game at a time. Most of the guys are young and inexperienced, and with the overall talent level in this league we are definitely going to struggle some weeks, but it's important to keep emotions in check and just let the season unfold. Do I feel like we could make a run at the playoffs this year? Absolutely, but it's not going to be easy, and I could just as easily see a sub-.500 season, the margin for error is so small. The good news is, we have a young team and they should only get better over time, so we should be able to at least contend for a playoff spot every year."

SVP - "And that wraps up this hour of Sports Center, stay tuned as NFL Live is coming up next."