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When you look back at the history of the NFL draft, the Oakland Raiders have always been a team that’s made headlines. For better or worse, the Raiders find a way to get people talking. Especially in the years of Al Davis running the show, you never knew what was going to happen on draft day in Oakland.
So now in 2013, it’s come to light that one of the Raiders’ non-moves, may have cost them dearly. Former coach Hue Jackson revealed that team wanted quarterback Colin Kaepernick, badly, back in the 2011 draft.
“I think about it all the time, believe me. No question in my mind we wanted it to happen, and no question I thought it could happen. We wanted the kid in the worst way.”
Apparently, Oakland was unable to make a deal to trade up in the second round to take the speedy quarterback. The San Francisco 49ers beat them to the punch, and the rest is history. Al Davis was also reportedly very upset, and who can blame him?
Things could have been so much different for the Raiders, if only they had a first round pick that year. They apparently had Kaepernick ranked as their top QB overall, and you have to think if they had a first round selection, that it would have been the quarterback. If there’s anything we know about the Raiders when they like a player, it’s that they’re willing to reach.
For a franchise that just can’t seem to get a break, this news just pours salt in the wounds. It’s impossible to predict if Kaepernick would have burst on the scene without the tutelage of Jim Harbaugh, but he’s just so talented, that I think he’d be successful anywhere. Because of that, I’m sure that Raiders’ fans wish that Jackson would have just kept this whole thing to himself.
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