FanHouse Mike Mayock

The Raiders opened training camp Wednesday without seventh-overall pick Darrius Heyward-Bey. It's hardly surprising that a team might not have its first-rounder under contract yet (particularly a top-10 selection), but Heyward-Bey is particularly noteworthy. (UPDATE, July 30: Heyward-Bey reached a five-year deal with Oakland and is expected to report to camp.)

If not for Al Davis' fascination with size and speed, Heyward-Bey would have probably lasted at least until the end of Round 1. Instead, the former Maryland Terrapin is considered more raw physical talent than NFL-ready wide receiver. And any camp time he misses translates into that much longer until he sees the field. JaMarcus Russell, who staged a lengthy holdout two years ago, can surely confirm as much.

Perhaps the best way to ease a young NFL quarterback into the starting job is to surround him with playmakers, the support of a suffocating defense, or both. That way, he's seldom in the position of having to win a game, but has the benefit of gaining experience.

The strategy worked for the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, and the Ravens and Joe Flacco and the Falcons and Matt Ryan last season. Pittsburgh was 15-1, Baltimore and Atlanta were 11-5. It helps to have most of the pieces in place before handing over the offense to a young QB, but it's not mandatory; the Ravens won five times the year before Flacco arrived, and the Falcons won four.

Under Bill Belichick, the Patriots have a history of trading up and down (mostly down) the draft board, accumulating future picks along the way. It's unorthodox but effective.

The 2009 NFL Draft has been no different. In fact, Belichick announced hours before the proceedings that the chances the Pats would trade into the top 10 were "less than zero." And he kept his word. New England worked the board, and didn't make their first selection until the second round. But UNC wide receiver Brandon Tate, taken in Round 3, could be the most memorable Patriots pick in this draft.

Everyone watching the NFL draft was shocked when the Oakland Raiders selected Ohio safety Michael Mitchell in the second round, a pick that prompted Mel Kiper, Mike Mayock and their ilk to bash the Raiders for wasting a pick on a player who would have been available later in the draft. But now there's talk that Mitchell wasn't going to be available much longer at all.

As happens on the last Saturday in April every year, I spent the day on my couch watching Roger Goodell and Ray Anderson read names off a card. The NFL Draft is the biggest event of the football offseason, even though it involves a bunch of guys in suits sitting around a set telling us about players who won't see the field for another four months.

The spectacle has gotten so big it gets wall-to-wall coverage on two networks. I'm partial to the NFL Network over ESPN because I have a crush on Mike Mayock, and because I couldn't stand the awkwardness of a Mel Kiper-Todd McShay slap fight.

Bill Parcells has a history of being aggressive, and the results suggest he knows what he's doing. He's taken five different teams to the playoffs as either a coach or front-office type, and is the NFL equivalent of Mr. White Winston Wolfe: he solves problems.

He took the Dolphins from a one-win outfit in 2007 to AFC East champs a year later. And if he thinks Pat White is a special player, I'm not going to argue with him.

On Day 1 of the Draft, the Dolphins selected Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis with the 25th pick, and double-downed with White a round later (44th overall). Davis has been described as a top-10 talent, but character issues saw him drop to the end of the first round. But if there's anybody who can keep Davis in check it's Parcells.

Although the Dolphins had a huge need in the secondary, White might be the best value pick in this draft.

Last week, NFL Network's Mike Mayock had the Raiders drafting Darrius Heyward-Bey with the seventh overall pick. Not because he thought Heyward-Bey was one of the seven-best players in the draft, or even a top-3 wide receiver. But because Al Davis loves speed. Former Raiders executive Mike Lombardi also had Heyward-Bey going to Oakland for the same reason.

It's easy say Mayock and Lombardi are overstating their case, maybe in an effort to separate themselves from the millions of other mock drafts we're subjected to. But a quick glance at Davis' recent draft history suggests that Heyward-Bey is hardly a stretch, even at No. 7. Last season, Darren McFadden was taken fourth overall, and Fabien Washington and Michael Huff were drafted in back-to-back drafts starting in 2005.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Eagles' perfect draft dream scenario actually played out last week: after opting not to re-sign 34-year-old Tra Thomas, the organization swung a deal for Jason Peters, one of the league's best young left tackles (or, if you're Andy Reid and into hyperbole, the best left tackle.) It cost Philadelphia the 28th pick, but given Peters' track record (even after an uneven 2008 season) -- as well as the uncertainty that comes with drafting a player to step into a starting role -- it was worth it.

Nate Davis has had a rough few months. After an impressive junior season at Ball State -- one in which some folks had him pegged as a possible first-round pick -- the MAC quarterback has experienced a series of setbacks that will cost him millions of dollars, and perhaps the opportunity to play professional football.

ESPN.com's Jeffri Chadiha wrote earlier this month that Davis "... seemed destined to follow Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich as the next great Mid-American Conference quarterback to enter the NFL," although now he's more likely to be lumped in with Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye -- or worse -- Omar Jacobs.

When the college football season ended, almost nobody had Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman destined for the first round. Now, with less than a week before the draft, there's virtually no way he makes it past the 19th pick, at least to hear the draftniks tell it.

With the Lions, 49ers, Broncos and Buccaneers all potentially looking for franchise quarterbacks, and with only three legit first-round prospects in the draft, competition could artificially inflate their values. Pretty much everybody agrees that Matthew Stafford is the best of the bunch (although Mike Mayock is partial to Mark Sanchez), and depending on what the Lions decide to do with the top pick, Sanchez could be gone by the fourth -- and no later than the fifth -- selection.