49ers Catch Break Thanks to Raiders' Gaffe

Football has been a swamp of misery in the Bay Area for the better part of seven years now.  Neither Oakland or San Francisco has made the playoffs since 2002  But the 49ers at least have some optimism building now, with the hire of Mike Singletary, a rapidly-improving defense, and a 4-1 finish to last year.  Nobody seems to think the Raiders are anywhere close to contention, and Saturday's draft exemplified why.

When you own the 7th pick in the draft, you're supposed to pick the best available player, regardless of need.  You can be excused for choosing a need player over the best player, if the need player is almost as good.  The Raiders chose Darrius Heyward-Bey, a wide receiver out of Maryland.  Not only was he not the best available player left, he wasn't even the best receiver left!

He is incredibly fast, and that's what made Al Davis fall in love with him.  There's debate that he won't even be a #2 receiver in the league, though.  But even if he turns out to be a star, no other team was contemplating taking him for at least another 20 spots.  This is what makes the pick so ridiculous.  The Raiders are going to have to overpay him, hurting their cap, when they could have traded down and still nabbed him later.

The Raiders' stupidity was San Francisco's gain.  Their cross-bay rivals were able to select Michael Crabtree (WR, Texas Tech) with the 10th pick.  The Niners haven't had a play-maker at the position since cutting ties with Terrell Owens.  Nearly everyone had him projected as a top-5 player in this draft, and clearly the best receiver.

So as a 49ers fan, I want to personally thank Al Davis and the Raiders for being obsessed with 40-yard dash times, and not concerned with whether the guy (who was inconsistent at Maryland and put up less-than-inspiring numbers) can actually make it as a football player in this league.  SF scored big, even if somehow Heyward-Bey turns out to be good.

(Photo: Getty Images)

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Chase Parker believes in the East Coast bias, stretching triples into doubles, and considers Tommy Boy to be the greatest athlete of our generation.

Unless otherwise stated, no particular sexual orientation of anyone depicted is implied or should be presumed.