Dickey: Raiders' recent draft picks prove to be busts

Al Davis’ stubbornness to make his own picks in the draft is evident now more than ever as Raiders first-round draft pick Darrius Heyward-Bey has accumulated only four receptions in six games, dropping several passes. (Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO — Nothing better illustrates the on-field problems of the Raiders than the less-than-dynamic-duo of quarterback JaMarcus Russell and wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey.

It’s not too early to declare that Russell is a bust. He has a strong arm, but sprays his passes. Worse, he has poor work habits — both physically and mentally — and either doesn’t understand the problem or doesn’t want to admit it.

After last Sunday’s debacle against the Jets, many individual players took blame for what happened. Not Russell. He said he didn’t understand why he was taken out of the game. Everybody else did and coach Tom Cable explained it Monday: On the first play of the game, Russell had called the wrong formation and then didn’t throw a checkdown pass when the rush came, leading to his fumble.

Later in the quarter, he threw an interception when no Raiders receivers were in the area, leading to the second Jets touchdown of the quarter. For a Raiders team that hasn’t scored more than 13 points in a game since the opener, that was fatal.

Russell is no further advanced than the first time he took the field for the Raiders. Another truth: An examination of his mental attitude in college would have told the Raiders not to draft him. The coach at the time, Lane Kiffin, knew the top collegiate players because he had been a recruiter at USC. He recommended against drafting Russell. Al Davis didn’t listen because Russell had the strong arm he loves in a quarterback.

Heyward-Bey is a different matter. Russell at least had an outstanding collegiate career. Heyward-Bey had a spotty one. Other teams had Michael Crabtree as the top receiver, but Davis was intrigued by Heyward-Bey’s speed.

After missing training camp and six games because of a contract holdout, Crabtree caught five passes for the 49ers in his first game.

Heyward-Bey has four receptions in six games.

Mistakes are often made on players as they move up a level, whether from high school to college or from college to the NFL, but the first thing you look for is production on the lower level. Heyward-Bey never had that. In college, he was known as a receiver who could make an occasional big play, but was more likely to drop passes.

Writers have noted that Jerry Rice dropped many passes early in his first season with the 49ers, but that was because he had problems learning the Bill Walsh system. He didn’t drop passes in a record-setting collegiate career, and he didn’t drop them for the 49ers once he learned the system.

Heyward-Bey played three years in a major college program and never learned to catch the ball consistently. He still hasn’t. There have been times when Russell hasn’t thrown to him because he figured DHB would probably drop the ball. He caught two passes on short routes Sunday, but late in the game when the Raiders were trying desperately to avoid a shutout, Bruce Gradkowski threw a pass into the end zone. Heyward-Bey jumped for it but the ball went right through his hands. On TV replays, it appeared he might not have even touched it.

A team just can’t afford mistakes like Russell and Heyward-Bey with its top draft choices. But Davis won’t listen to anybody and his decision-making just drives the Raiders deeper into despair.

Glenn Dickey has been covering Bay Area sports since 1963 and also writes on www.GlennDickey.com. E-mail him at glenndickey@hotmail.com.