Raiders have pieces for a potent offense

ALAMEDA

Now the pressure descends on Raiders coach Lane Kiffin. Before I explain, let's address the draft.

Did the Raiders make a good choice in the first round of the 2008 draft by taking Arkansas running back Darren McFadden?

Yes.

Should the Raiders have chosen defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey from LSU?

Possibly, but not really.

Was McFadden the one and only player they should have taken?

Double yes.

Just so you don't think I've flipped my noodle and lost touch with reality, let me explain. Sure, the Raiders need a stud run-stopping defensive lineman. Sure, they are dreadful against the run, and Dorsey might have helped them. All of that is known. But McFadden is a once-in-a-lifetime runner, someone they couldn't pass up.

In retrospect, it all seems so obvious. Al Davis, the one and only decision-maker for the Raiders, is in love with flash and he's in love with speed. That means he is in love with McFadden and naturally would covet him. On Saturday, Kiffin said the Raiders would have traded up to get McFadden. On the other hand, just the other day, Kiffin said running back was not a Raiders' need. That means he was fibbing at the time. Coaches always fib pre-draft.

But, in a way, he wasn't fibbing. Running back was not a Raiders' need. They already have Justin Fargas, Dominic Rhodes, Michael Bush and Lamont Jordan. Well, they technically have Jordan, but they will dump him. Call it running-back overload. So, yes, running back was not a Raiders' need, but McFadden was a Raiders' want. He is fast and powerful and he can catch passes and sometimes the Raiders will use him as a wide receiver. He is an offense all by himself.

Dorsey is a good defensive lineman, but he does what Tommy Kelly does, is redundant -- and the Raiders already are paying Kelly a billion dollars, or something like that.

OK, that's what I think of the Raiders' first pick. And now I want to talk about Kiffin and the position he's in -- not necessarily the catbird seat.

I'll get into it with a quote from Kiffin after the Raiders announced their first-round pick. Asked if McFadden will help JaMarcus Russell, Kiffin said, "It gives him another tool to work with."

No, I don't think Kiffin was calling McFadden a tool. Kiffin meant tool as in weapon. But, please, forget about Russell and his weapons. The more important issue is the coach himself and the weapons at his disposal.

Try to think of this from Davis' point of view. I admit that's difficult. No one really knows how Davis thinks. But do your best. Davis has a kid coach who's known as an offensive specialist, maybe even a whiz. Of course, the kid's offense is of the West Coast variety, and Al's offense is bombs away -- which means they're out of sync with each other, always were and always will be. But that's another story. Davis also has a kid coach who overstepped his bounds in the offseason, at least Al thinks he overstepped. And Davis put him in his place.

So here's the deal. By drafting McFadden, Al has presented Kiffin with an offense with potential, a dynamic, terrific, dangerous offense. Kiffin has the following dynamite tools. He has McFadden, the back the Raiders have needed forever. He has Russell, the first player taken in last year's draft, a big body and a long thrower. He has wide receiver Javon Walker, a fast, big-play receiver -- the Raiders paid a lot for him -- someone who can run down Russell's passes.

You get the idea. This is an offense with weapons and this is an offense that can -- should -- score points. The thing about scoring points is important. Last season and the season before that -- you could go back many seasons -- the Raiders would fall behind early and their offense was so anemic, so dead in the water, teams would run the ball. And the Raiders couldn't stop the run. Opponents would work the clock and the Raiders couldn't score enough to make up the difference. It was easy to beat the Raiders, way easier than it should have been.

Davis has not addressed the issue of stopping the run, but he's given Kiffin an offense that can catch up and, if things go right, take over. And he's presented his young coach with a challenge. He's said to Kiffin something like: "You wanted better players. I gave you better players. You wanted an offense. I gave you an offense. Now, you have no excuse for not scoring -- no excuses allowed. So, show me. Show me what you can do. I dare you. Your survival depends on it."

You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.