Raiders HC Tom Cable stressed he wanted to stick to the draft as a topic of conversation and gave little more than a “he’s here, he’s working” response to a question about quarterback Jamarcus Russell.
However, when asked about the importance of getting a premium pick that actually produces right away, as opposed to the struggles of Russell, Darren Mcfadden and Darrius Heyward-bey, Cable was effusive in his praise of last year’s first-round pick.
“You guys will be excited when you see us in OTA, the improvement Darrius has already made,” Cable said. “That guy has jumped out at us since winter program, or offseason program, just the quality of work he’s done.
“What he did between the end of the season and when we started on March 17 is phenomenal, and probably no one is more excited about a guy on our team than Darrius right now. He really, really has taken this things leaps and bounds, further probably than what we thought we could go with it this quickly. It will be nice to get him on the field and get him into coverages and get him into route concepts and doing those kinds of things.”
