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Raiders go conservative with draft picks
Posted: Sunday April 18, 1999 10:00 PM
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- When the Oakland Raiders traded up to pick offensive lineman Mo Collins late in the first round of last year's draft, new coach Jon Gruden said he and his coaches were rolling on the floor in glee. This year, when Gruden picked offensive lineman Matt Stinchcomb midway through the first round with the Raiders' top pick, the coach calmly praised the intelligence and maturity of his newest acquisition. Perhaps a year in charge of the Raiders has tempered some of Gruden's rookie enthusiasm. Or, more likely, this was a draft in which the Raiders opted for substance instead of sizzle. The old Raiders might have chosen linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer in the first round and running back Cecil Collins later on. Both are immensely talented, but have had problems off the field. That used to be a common theme for Raider acquisitions. But the new Raiders played it conservative this weekend, taking Stinchcomb, a finance major who just missed a perfect academic record at Georgia. In addition to Stinchcomb, the Raiders traded up to choose defensive end Tony Bryant of Florida State in the second round; wide receiver Dameane Douglas of California in the fourth round; defensive tackle Daren Yancey of Brigham Young in the sixth round, and three linebackers -- Eric Barton of Maryland and Roderick Coleman of East Carolina in the fifth round, and JoJuan Armour of Miami, Ohio, in the seventh. In the first round, the Raiders used the 18th pick on offensive tackle Stinchcomb, who had a perfect 4.0 GPA in high school and missed a perfect GPA in college only because he got a B in freshman English. The Raiders badly needed a linebacker and Katzenmoyer was available, but they passed on him. Katzenmoyer was dominant as a freshman at Ohio State and still very impressive as a sophomore, but his play leveled off last season amid problems with academics and alcohol. He was selected 28th by New England. "We talked about Andy, we talked about several players. But we have a middle linebacker [Greg Biekert] that we felt was very productive for us and a guy we consider the strength of our defense," Gruden said. "We felt from a need standpoint, an overall standpoint, Matt Stinchcomb was much better for the Oakland Raiders." In the fourth round, Collins -- whose off-field problems include two felony charges and being kicked off two teams -- was still available when the Raiders took Douglas despite needing a running back. Collins was taken by Miami in the fifth round.
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