Say what you will about Al Davis taking over here on the third day of the Oakland Raiders draft, but Walter McFadden does not appear to be a Davis pick. At 5’10”and just 172 pounds, McFadden is too small to be the typical guy AL Davis takes to be a cornerback on the Oakland Raiders.
Last year at Auburn, McFadden had 46 tackles (4.5 tfl) with 6 interceptions and ten pass deflections. He is the younger brother of two-time Super Bowl Champion CB Bryant McFadden who was a second round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers and now plays his ball for the Arizona Cardinals.
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McFadden put up some decent numbers at his schools Pro Day tacking up a 4.4 forty yard dash with a 35.5” vertical, a 10’3”board jump, and a 4.31 short shuttle. Due to Auburns depth at CB, McFadden didn’t start for the Tigers until his Junior season, However, once he was put in the starting line-up, he became the leader and playmaker his coaches thought he would be.
He has good reactions skills, natural coverage abilities, and good footwork and hip movement to turn and run with receivers. He is known for having active hands in press man to man coverage and he doesn’t back down from the challenge of facing a bigger receiver.
One of his better traits is his explosive burst to close on a ball in the air and timing his jumps to fight for the ball against bigger receivers. He is willing to take on bigger backs in run support and is a reliable tackler one on one in the open field.
He is a reliable special team’s player who played gunner for Auburn before his time starting at CB. His coaches refer to him as a player who has “matured over his four years.” He is regarded as a solid person, smart player, and team leader during his time at Auburn.
Oakland continues to add team leaders and solid positional players through this draft. Stay tuned for more from tfdssports.com.
–Bret Armstrong, TFDS Guest Contributor
Dizzle’s take: I see this as absolutely an Al Davis pick. In fact, as soon as I saw the two athletes taken in the 4th in OT Bruce Campbell and WR/KR Jacoby Ford, it was obvious to me that Davis was back in charge of the draft and that meant a corner back was the next pick. McFadden was among the fastest corners in this draft. And after missing out on Chris Cook or Brandon Ghee, McFadden was the next best thing in the mold of the speedy corner that Davis gets in nearly every draft. With bigger needs still unadressed such as DT and FB makes this even more likely a Davis pick.
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