FanHouse AlDavis

It would have been nice if, after the Raiders selected wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey with the seventh-overall pick in April's draft, the talented but raw Maryland product quietly went about proving his critics wrong.

Instead, he suffered a hamstring injury two weeks after the draft (speed kills, apparently), which made it easy for detractors to point out that Michael Crabtree or Jeremy Maclin -- two receivers everybody but Al Davis had rated higher than Heyward-Bey -- might have been better choices.

Then again, Davis loves the vertical passing game, and to pull it off you need a strong-armed quarterback and a receiver who can blow past defenders. JaMarcus Russell was an obvious choice for the former, and of all the available pass catchers in the 2009 draft, Heyward-Bey made too much sense (at least from Al's perspective) for the latter.

Free agent linebacker Greg Ellis will sign a three-year contract today with the Raiders, according to a source. Ellis visited the Raiders on Friday and agreed to the deal Sunday night.

Randy Moss is the best wide receiver in the NFL. For different reasons, Al Davis, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have a lot to do with that. But before his professional football career, Moss was a legit basketball player, too.

He was twice named Mr. Basketball in West Virginia, and even contemplated the two-sport route at one point. So when he says LeBron James could play in the NFL, I believe him. And not just suit up George Plimpton style, either. Moss thinks LeBron, an All-Ohio wideout in high school, would dominate.

It's May, NFL practices are voluntary, and they mainly consist of 80 or so players running around in shorts and t-shirts trying not to get hurt. Despite barely resembling football, organized team activities (OTAs) are an opportunity for coaches to install new schemes, and new faces to get acclimated to their surroundings.

It's also a chance for veterans to become more comfortable. This assumes the scheme doesn't change every offseason. Which brings us to JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick in 2007, and currently penciled in as the Raiders starting quarterback.

Last season, the Raiders paid DeAngleo Hall $8 million for eight weeks of service before cutting bait. Not the best use of the salary cap, but it makes sense when put in perspective: Oakland has had four coaches, four quarterbacks and 16 wins in four years. Blowing $8 million on Hall is nothing.

Hall wasn't out of work long; he signed with the Redskins and played well enough to get a long-term deal (apparently, leaving Oakland is good for your career).

After an injury-filled, $8 million season in Washington, Jason Taylor was back on the free-agent market this spring. Several teams needing a pass rusher showed interest, including the Patriots, who had previously traded veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Chiefs.

Taylor ended up in Miami, where he started his career and played for 10 seasons. It was one of the few examples of a player turning down a chance to join the Pats; head coach and evil genius Bill Belichick has an incredible knack for convincing free agents -- through Charles Manson-styled brainwashing, no doubt -- to come to Foxboro. Not this time.

Mocking the Oakland Raiders is a year-round affair, and the NFL Draft is no different. People who make it their business to know such things were predicting the Raiders would take wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey with the seventh overall pick because -- wait for it -- Al Davis loves speed.

The year before, some folks thought running back Darren McFadden was a stretch with the fourth selection, and then there were the Fabien Washington and Michael Huff first-round debaclements in 2005 and 2006. But the 2007 draft was different: the Raiders chose quarterback JaMarcus Russell with the No. 1 pick, and we all agreed it was the right move.

Al Davis	vs.	William Clay Ford
368-264-8	Record	281-374-13
.569	Winning%	.411
21	Playoffs	9
4	Champions	0

Sports Illustrated is running a feature right now on the best and worst owners in sports, and for the most part, the lists are well-reasoned and interesting. But there's one huge problem: SI claims that Oakland's Al Davis is the worst owner in the NFL, worse even than Detroit's William Clay Ford. And that's just wrong.

Darrius Heyward-Bey was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the first round of the NFL draft for one reason: speed. The former Maryland wideout has tons of it, and while that may not be enough to justify his selection to anyone with a brain most people, it was enough for Al Davis.

Unfortunately, it appears Mr. Heyward-Bey's speed comes with a troublesome side effect: injury. That's right, DHB messed up his hamstring and sat out the final day of minicamp because he was "running too fast."

Coming off their sixth consecutive non-playoff season, the Oakland Raiders entered the 2009 NFL draft with a number of holes. With the seventh overall pick, they couldn't have made a bad selection in terms of position. Offensive tackle, wide receiver, defense ... all would have been wise choices.

As it turns out, the Raiders went with a potential playmaking receiver for third year quarterback JaMarcus Russell. In theory, it's a solid move. Too bad they took the wrong receiver.