Raiders check out rookies Oakland holds first of three practices in

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 10, 2008 | by Steve Corkran

ALAMEDA -- The Oakland Raiders conducted their first organized practice of the year Friday, a day otherwise known as running back Darren McFadden's coming-out party amid a sea of players from which few will make the opening-day roster.

Officially, the 90-minute session was for rookies and players with fewer than four games on the 53-man roster of an NFL team. The first of three practices came as part of the team's rookie minicamp. The veterans won't join the on-field fray until early June, when the Raiders hold their mandatory minicamp.

First-round draft pick McFadden was among the 40 or so players who donned Raiders jerseys and, in most cases, received their first taste of life as an NFL player.

This camp is one of the many avenues through which Raiders coach Lane Kiffin and his assistants base their opinions when deciding which 53 players to keep on the opening-day roster.

To that end, there is plenty to be gleaned from a gathering of rookies, players who weren't even selected in the NFL draft or deemed talented enough to make more than a token appearance last season.

"Guys will always look different than what you thought they were going to," Kiffin said in response to the value of such minicamps. "It's going to happen. You're going to have some guy in a drill, who is a free agent, and he's going to look better than some guy you drafted in the third or fourth round. It's fun to evaluate them."

The Raiders spent an inordinate amount of time evaluating McFadden in the months leading up to the NFL draft last month. Evenso, there is something to be said for seeing McFadden in person, Kiffin said.

"The quickness shows up so fast, he just looks so much quicker than everybody around him," Kiffin said. "He's so fun to work with because he's a football guy. He loves it. You can see it in his eyes. He wants to learn. He's out there, and if pads were on, you would have heard a lot of noise from him as well."

McFadden is but one of five Raiders draftees seeking to open eyes and make waves on the field during the next four months.

Arman Shields and Chaz Schilens were selected in the fourth and seventh round, respectively, based mainly upon their above-average speed and potential as big-play wide receivers.

Both made several nice catches during the team's first organized practice. It's not a stretch to say both looked more impressive than Carlos Francis and Johnnie Morant, receivers the Raiders selected in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively, in the 2004 draft and released last year after three unproductive seasons.

In Shields and Schilens, Kiffin sees two potentially big, fast targets for second-year quarterback JaMarcus Russell to connect with, when he isn't throwing to the likes of Ronald Curry, Javon Walker and Drew Carter.

"Shields would have gone much higher if it hadn't been for him missing (most of) his senior year," Kiffin said.

Schilens opened plenty of eyes with an impressive predraft workout. The Raiders took note.

"His offseason workouts were (impressive), and we really felt he improved enough to take a chance on him," Kiffin said.

Schilens said Friday that his potential transcends his pedestrian statistics during his career at San Diego State.

"I always felt that I was a player who got better year to year and game to game," Schilens said. "I feel like I'm constantly learning."

Tyvon Branch played mostly cornerback at Connecticut. He now is working at safety and kick returner, his likely ticket to a roster spot this season, given the departure of Chris Carr and Dominic Rhodes.

"It's definitely a great opportunity for me," Branch said. "They lost both their returners, so I'm looking forward to stepping up and competing for that job."

NOTES: The Raiders worked out San Ramon Valley High graduate Sam Keller, a quarterback, on Friday. He wasn't selected out of Nebraska in the draft last month. The Raiders already have five quarterbacks on their roster --Russell, Andrew Walter, Jeff Otis, Erik Meyer and Brian White. ... Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is sporting a new hairdo for the first time in years. His long, flowing mane is gone, replaced by a close-cropped look. He donated much of his hair to Locks Of Love, an organization that provides hairpieces to children with hair loss as a result of any medical condition. ... The Raiders relaunched their Spanish site, Raidersenespanol.com. The relaunch was designed to allow more Raiders fans to interact with the Raiders in a platform developed in the Spanish language. ... The Raiders entered into a joint relationship with the Austrian Football League's SWARCO Raiders football team. The two teams will engage in several marketing and promotional endeavors during the 2008 season.