Gaines Adams – Matt Millen the genius or Oakland confused?

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Gaines Adams would like to meet your quarterback!

The drama is too much.

For two months or so, we have all assumed that the Oakland Raiders would be taking JaMarcus Russell, the quarterback.

For two months or so, we may have just been guessing.

It has been sort of forgotten that the Raiders signed a new coach, Lane Kiffen, and he may have some say in the matter.

Wait a minute, has Al Davis just been knocked unconscious?… Ok, right, Al will obviously have the final say, but Lane might have some input. You know, just a teeny tiny bit of influence?

According to a report by Mike O’Hara of the Detroit News:

Most people think the Raiders are leaning toward taking a quarterback — JaMarcus Russell of LSU or Brady Quinn of Notre Dame. Lane Kiffen, the Raiders’ first-year coach, said Tuesday that it is too early in the scouting process to focus on one player. source

The Mock Draft

Mike is not alone in reporting Oakland may be looking past JaMarcus Russell. Pat Kirwin of NFL.com released his weekly mock draft.

After spending a few days with the general managers, coaches and an owner or two at the NFL owners’ meetings in Phoenix this week, I have a much different perspective about where the draft is headed.

…..

1. **Oakland: Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech — The Raiders have a lot of needs, but as long as quarterback is one of them, they have to respond by selecting the guy with the great deep ball, JaMarcus Russell. By passing on the opportunity to get Schaub in a trade, it looks like a quarterback is the pick — but if the Raiders secure a QB like Josh McCown from the Lions, then here comes Calvin Johnson. Let’s go with Johnson, the top-rated player on most draft boards!

2. **Cleveland (after trade with Detroit): JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU — The Lions here could take Russell, Gaines Adams or move down, but it would not surprise me if it is a swap with Cleveland and the Browns take Russell.

3. **Detroit (after trade with Cleveland): Gaines Adams, DE, Clemson — Now that they’ve traded down, the Lions could go in a lot of directions. I think they’ll sit right here and take a quarterback later in the draft. source

Wow! We have got to hash this one over a little bit. (That means discuss to you Michael Vick water bottle carriers)

First off, this assumes a lot of smart moves by Matt Millen and the Detroit Lions.

Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press, refers to Matt Millen by his record, which is 24 – 72.

For all the dumb personnel mistakes that signature the reign of Mr. 24-72, the biggest blunder of them all would be his failure to move down in the draft order considering the unusually high volatility at the top of this year’s draft.

…

Can’t you envision Mr. 24-72 overplaying his hand attempting to take advantage of a team instead of simply finding the best deal available that’s equally beneficial to both teams?

…

But if Mr. 24-72 is only open to fleecing other teams, he’ll find himself holding that No. 2 pick when the Lions’ 15 minutes on the clock are up on draft day. And there will be no dancing around the Allen Park asylum, only Realization No. 247 that they’ve bungled yet again. source

Keep in mind that Drew is even pessimistic about optimism and has no faith in Matt what so ever.

Josh McCown

The second point to be made is the Josh McCown is definitely available for the taking. The Lions let him play wide receiver last year as the backup quarterback. That does not make any sense at all if you are thinking of him competing for the starting job.

The hidden message? They had already given up on Josh!

Raiders put together a team

This would give Oakland Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson at wideouts. Ouch! How you going to guard that?

Hmm, throw in a pretty good back in Dominic Rhodes (off season pickup from the Colts), mix in the leagues third rated defense (hard to believe, isn’t it), ad a couple tablespoons of Lane Kiffen at coach and you have a football team!

Cleveland finds a leader

Meanwhile, the mock draft has Detroit trading down with Cleveland, so the Browns can get JaMarcus Russell.

The third point would be that the Browns taking Russell makes a ton of sense. Name the Cleveland Quarterback? Give up? How about Charlie Frye? No, really that is his name.

Face it, the Browns would love to get Russell.

Lions rush to get Adams

This leaves the Lions picking Gaines Adams the defensive end.

The fourth and final point would be that the Lions badly need a defensive end and Gaines Adams would be a great pick! The Lions have DeWayne White, (from Tampa Bay, a backup), playing at one defensive end and the ever failing Kalimba Edwards at the other defensive end.

Detroit coach Rod Marinelli is a big believer in the Tampa II defense. You need your defensive front four to rush the quarterback hard. Picking a hard rushing young star powered defensive end would be a perfect complement to last years first pick, speedy hard hitting linebacker, Ernie Sims.

NFL Football Fan Question Can Matt Millen, the Lion’s GM, be this smart?

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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