Raiders Dallas Cowboys
My Take on Stryker Sulak
The Raiders recently released one of the best potential names in the NFL in rookie defensive end Stryker Sulak, Oakland's sixth-round draft pick out of Missouri. Mysteriously, the team's Web Site makes no mention of it on its transaction page. Rather, the Raiders did post that back-up safety and special team’s player Keith Davis, who was signed on May 21 after appearing in 84 games over six seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, had been released but there was no mention of Sulak.
Sulak's fate was reportedly news to him and his agent, according to various reports that I have read. Why did the Raiders give up on a draft pick that many believe to have some nice upside? Who knows but obviously Al saw something that he didn’t like and subsequently cut ties. When Sulak was drafted, Raiders coach Tom Cable was quoted as saying that he planned to play the 6-feet-5, 250-pound rookie at strong side linebacker, but during the media availability portions of mandatory minicamp and voluntary OTAs, Sulak was at defensive end and playing with the second and third team defenses. That should have been a red flag in an of itself. Furthermore, The Raiders' signing of Greg Ellis to bookend with Derrick Burgess and the emergence of last year's sixth-round pick, Trevor Scott, might have meant Sulak was simply caught in a numbers game when the Raiders badly need to solidify the middle of its D-Line in run defense. That is all perfectly logical but if it went down like everyone says it went down then Oakland could have handled this much differently but as we all know this is a business and that the NFL stands for "not for long".
Did the Raiders 'stryke' out and waste a sixth-round pick? Depends on your perspective. A roll call, then, of the team's sixth-round draft picks since relocating to Oakland in 1995, while keeping in mind the team might have had multiple sixth-rounders in some years, no sixth-round selection in others: T Eli Herring, RB Tim Hall, DB Calvin Branch, DT Grady Jackson, DT Daren Yancey, DT Chris Cooper, S Keyon Nash, RB Larry Ned, T Dustin Rykert, DE Shawn Johnson, LB Cody Spencer, DT Anttaj Hawthorne, LB Ryan Riddle, T Pete McMahon, OL Kevin Boothe, FB Oren 'O Neal, Scott and Sulak. Not exactly household names so while Sulak appeared to have potential history says that the Raiders are not missing much with his release.
About the Author
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