Darrius

Heyward-Bey

Heyward-Bey passes Al Davis’ speed test, Oakland is desperate for a vertical threat in the passing game, and he’s going to be there at No. 7 overall. Ideally the Raiders would trade back a few spots and still land DHB, but Davis may not want to take that risk. Davis also has no history of trading down.

According to King, Mizzou’s Jeremy Maclin is also an option. Raiders coach Tom Cable was reportedly in contact with Maclin Thursday night. It appears that the Raiders are locked into a receiver with their first-round pick.

Al Davis wants another Cliff Branch and Heyward-Bey possesses the best combo of size and speed at receiver in this draft. Jeremy Maclin might make more sense to most, but not to Davis. DHB is a tenth of a second faster.

McDonald pointed out that the predictions smack of the knee-jerk “Al will take the fastest guy available” analysis. If the Raiders don’t reach for DHB, he could conceivably fall to the second round.

Corkran admits it’s purely “speculation,” presumably based on new coach Dennis Allen’s history with Colston and Harper. Opining that Darrius Heyward-Bey is still ideally a No. 3 receiver despite his furious finish to the 2011 season, Corkran also believes Vincent Jackson is a “very viable option” in free agency. We see the Raiders as having higher priorities than wide receiver.

Heyward-Bey, 26, caught 41 passes for 606 yards and five touchdowns with Oakland last season. The former No. 7 overall pick will slide into the receiver spot vacated by Donnie Avery. Although Avery started 15 games for the Colts last season, we’d expect DHB to work in as a deep threat behind Reggie Wayne and second-year burner T.Y. Hilton. Heyward-Bey has averaged 14.8 YPC in his four seasons, compared to Avery’s 12.8 career YPC. USA Today’s Mike Garafolo reports the deal is worth up to $3 million and contains $1.5 million guaranteed.

Per Redskins beat writer Rick Maese, Campbell already has a deal worked out with Al Davis that will pay him $3.14 million this year and $4.5 million in 2011. Campbell may have to “earn” the job by beating out JaMarcus Russell, but it won’t be a competition. Campbell is a much better passer than either Russell or Bruce Gradkowski, so Zach Miller and Chaz Schilens are now prime candidates for breakout seasons. Upgrade Darren McFadden and Michael Bush as well, as defenses won’t be able to key on the running game.

Darrius Heyward-Bey is Oakland’s “X” wideout of the future, but a lost spring due to hamstring woes may have him behind Higgins. Still, we’d expect Higgins to move into more of a slot role with Heyward-Bey and Chaz Schilens outside by midyear at the latest. Higgins’ main duties are in the return game.

Schilens was the best receiver on the field and showed a nice chemistry with JaMarcus Russell as the go-to receiver. Even better, Schilens did his work in tight coverage and even drew a 45-yard pass interference call in the red zone. The cat’s out of the bag on this fantasy sleeper.

Cable continues to go overboard in his praise of DHB, and we’re not exactly sure why. Perhaps the team therapist says that the 2009 No. 7 overall pick needs positive reinforcement from his superiors. Heyward-Bey gets a boost with Jason Campbell under center, but we’re still skeptical about all this progress Cable is talking about.