ESPN Hates the Pick

Via Jerry:

Mel Kiper, Jr.: I’m shocked. I’m happy for Darrius Heyward-Bey… great kid, now a couple games this year he did not catch a pass, but he was shut out in two games. Not the guy that you throw the ball and can depend on. I gave it an F grade. I don’t know how you pass up Michael Crabtree at number 1. I’ve got to give it an F. In my opinion there’s no way you can pass up Crabtree, or if you want Heyward-Bey, trade down. Take Heyward-Bey and trade down and take him in the middle of the first round.

Keyshawn Johnson: Al Davis loves speed. Fast receivers can’t catch anyways. So I think when you’re looking at wide receiver, I think they’re not focused on passing the football, they compare him with a young quarterback. You don’t have to be fast in this league to make plays. I think it’s a big mistake on their part passing up Crabtree. You got to catch the football! This shouldn’t happen. You should never be shut out when you’re the number one guy.

Todd McShay: To me this has bust written all over it. You bring in a wide receiver who can basically be a speed guy. You can go vertically; he does a good job with that at a 4.3 speed. But, he does not catch the football consistently. If you’re going to draft in the top 10, you better draft a guy that can do it all. Michael Crabtree can do it all. Being obsessed with the 40 times is one of the reasons that Al Davis and the Raiders continue to pick at this spot.

Well, that happened.