The eighth pick is in and SB Nation’s Raiders community, Silver and Black Pride, has selected....
NFL Mock Draft, Pick 8: Raiders Select Bryan Bulaga, OT Iowa
Iowa OT Bryan Bulaga
But in reality, this would be a stunning pick. You have to think Al Davis would be hesitant about taking another Iowa offensive tackle with arms of a less-than-ideal length. After all, Robert Gallery struggled so badly as a tackle for Oakland that he had to move inside to guard.
From Black Heart Gold Pants’ Bulaga player profile:
The general consensus about Bulaga’s ceiling is absolutely correct. In 2008, Bulaga was the most dominant underclassman lineman in the conference, and he was properly rewarded for that performance 12 months later with an offensive lineman of the year award. That’s just how they do things.Of course, in those 12 months, Bulaga’s production fell off dramatically in the wake of a thyroid issue that kept him off the field, but Bulaga has gotten a clean bill of health from the Mayo Clinic since the end of the season. That out of the way, there’s nothing to stop him from mashing at the second level once again, right?Surprisingly, I like this pick, which is a bit unusual with an Al Davis-run team. Bulaga is technically sound and comes from a college coach, Kirk Ferentz, that’s respected around the league. Bulaga should be able to immediately step in and start. The Raiders have quite a bit invested in Darren McFadden so it’s in their best interest to get him as much help on the offensive line as possible.
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