The Raiders haven't had a winning season in five years, the product of firing coaches (Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell), misjudging high draft picks (Fabian Washington, Robert Gallery, Tyler Brayton) and hacking off star players (Charles Woodson, Randy Moss, Jerry Porter).

The 2008 NFL draft gives them another chance to create a sunnier tomorrow. With only five selections in the seven-round event, the Raiders must get their picks right, starting with the No. 4 overall choice in Saturday's first round.

Raiders leader Al Davis already has lost half a decade to the reloading process. Hot-seat coach Lane Kiffin is just as pressed for time, and he's been around only one season.

"Al can't afford to keep waiting for this thing to turn around," said one longtime team insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "Why do you think he spent all that money in free agency? He needs to win now."

It's unlikely the Raiders will land a 2008 season-changer with picks in the fourth, sixth and seventh rounds. That puts all the home-run pressure on their first-round choice, their only spot in the top 100.

More @:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/19/SPIK10825Q.DTL

The NFL Draft is almost 10 days away but it looks the fans on S&BP don't know who to get. It looks like a defense is the main solution to our run-stopping needs but other say we need an offensive player. I want either Chris Long or Vernon Gholston. I don't think we should think of picks as a "Pick you can't miss!" or something like that. We should think throughly about who to pick. What do ya'll think?  

Thats right, the Razorbacks pride and joy visits Oakland. He visited with Raiders coaches Monday 4/8/08,to fuels speculations of him going to Oakland. Kiffin on the other hand down-played this by giving the presence of Bush,Fargas,Rhodes and Jordon. "Running back is really not a need for us," says Kiffin. I honestly hope he doesn't come to even though he is a phenomenal player.