Nice little Read on Kiffins take on the draft

[jatfly]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/01/SPGJ9PID7N1.DTL


There is also a blurb and the end of the article about our new guys from the Lions...

Quick arrivals: Quarterback Josh McCown and wide receiver Mike Williams, acquired Saturday from the Detroit Lions for a fourth-round pick, were in Alameda by Sunday afternoon wearing Raiders gear.
Both are eager to work their way into the starting lineup after languishing on the Lions' bench last season.
"We're all happy and I'm eager to get started," Williams said.
Minicamp time: The Raiders will hold their first mandatory minicamp of the offseason, a three-day event that starts Friday. Russell and the other draft picks are expected to be there. All but five Raiders participated in the voluntary minicamp last month: defensive end Derrick Burgess, defensive tackle Warren Sapp, Janikowski, punter Shane Lechler and Moss

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[Crossbones]

Amidst all the problems we had on offense last year almost forgotten was how poorly we played "most of the time" on special teams. Too many times opposing teams had great field position because of ST breakdowns. This problem apparently didn't slip by the new head coach and he's trying to address it. It's a bigger problem than we might want to admit to. I'm glad Kiffin is putting ST as a priority.

 

[Rupert]

Kiffin has the right approach. The more things a player can do, the better he is for the team. How long did our star WR (Tim Brown) return punts? Was it Gruden's idea to restrict Woodson or was that an organizational thing? Who knows. The more football players (not one trick ponies) we have the better. Sure football is a violent sport, and the more minutes on the field the greater the chance for injury. But hell, if you draft well, you've got guys on the bench that can do anything for you.

That looks to have been our focus on day 2. Football players.

 

[R4Life]

I am worried for Cooper and Carr. I like them both. Carr's work as CB (and likely the Int return against Pitts) and success in Kickoffs (not punts) might save him. Cooper is the ST Captain and a stud, but little else.

 

[Rupert]

I think Carr and Cooper are safe currently. Both have a little ability off the bench as a CB and SS. I wouldn't want them starting, but they have some ability for emergency purposes.

Further, I don't think Kiffin wants to do away with specialists, he just wants to minimize them. He doesn't want to see a roster full of them, especially for bench players.