Al Davis Supersedes the Coaching Staff, Keeps 2nd Round Pick Mike Mitchell

Added on Sep 05, 2010 by Eric Galko in

NFL

You can ask most people in the NFL business, and they’ll tell you that the situation in Oakland is even more of a mess than the media make it out to be. From the Lane Kiffin situation to the handling of Jamarcus Russell to the useless predictions, Al Davis has done nothing to remake the dynasty that was the Oakland Raiders.

And now, as stubborn as he is, against his coaches wishes, he has now rumored to be involved in team breakdown on the field.

In the 2009 draft, the Oakland Raiders drafted Michael Mitchell, a safety from Ohio, who I personally felt when I scouted him that he was a fringe NFL player and likely best fit for a lower level league. They not only drafted him, but thought of him as a Top 50 pick, selecting him 47th overall.

But as camp rolled around this year, the Raiders coaching staff liked a recently drafted safety. Stevie Brown from Michigan. Brown is a linebacker/safety hybrid who can make a great special teamer and a situational safety. The coaching staff and players in the organization felt he should be the 4th safety on the team, and were ready to make him number 53 and cut Mitchell.

Then, the all-powerful Al Davis stepped in. He didn’t want to cut Mitchell as he would continue to be ridiculed by the media for selecting such an awfully overpicked player. So, when the 53 roster came out, the Raiders had Mitchell as the 4th safety, not Brown.

Now, I understand that the final say does belong to Davis. He’s the owner, he has the final say no matter what. However, you don’t see Dolphin ownership going up in arms as the team recently cut 2nd round pick Pat White and 3rd round pick Patrick Turner. Sometimes a player doesn’t live up to expectations, and it’s best to not put too much stock into them.

The draft is more of a choosing of players to tryout, not taking them to be the future. Granted, every scout and GM hopes that is the end result, but nothing is guaranteed, and every person knows that. Well, maybe not Al Davis.

Davis has been the reason the Raiders have struggled the past ten years, and with moves like this, he’ll struggle to find scouts, front office people, coaches, and even players to make his team into the dynasty era he still lives in.