"When you see highlights of this guy, you're going to see a guy that reminds you - and I don't want to put too much pressure on the guy - of Jack Tatum and Ronnie Lott," coach Tom Cable said. "He has that mentality. He literally knocks people out."

Mitchell was flattered, but didn't mind the comparison.

"I remember watching ESPN Classic with my dad, we'd watch old films of Jack Tatum and Ronnie Lott and he'd say, 'That's how you play football.' From a young age, I knew it was about hitting and being physical. I definitely model myself after those two individuals. I like to impose myself on other people."

--The Raiders took their share of shots for the selection of Darrius Heyward-Bey at No. 7 overall, none more pointed than from ESPN analyst Cris Carter.

"I don't know how to build a football team, I admit that ... but I do know how to recognize a receiver when he can make a contribution to an NFL team," Carter said. "Darrius Heyward-Bey made honorable mention All-ACC. Now you're telling me I just spent $50 million on my franchise quarterback and you're getting me an inconsistent receiver from the ACC?

"He had games where he didn't even catch a ball. How's that going to help JaMarcus (Russell)?"

Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer took issue with Cable's assertion that the Raiders were going to run the ball and then go deep.

"That formula, run, run, run, suck 'em up, throw it over their head, doesn't work," Dilfer said. "It doesn't work anywhere, and hasn't worked for years. That's why the best offensive coaches in this league understand the horizontal stretch as well as a vertical stretch."

Carter said fourth-round pick Louis Murphy was "a more complete receiver and had a better year at Florida" than Heyward-Bey had at Maryland.

--Murphy had a pre-draft visit with the Raiders, hit it off with receivers coach Sanjay Lal, and figured he had a good chance of being taken by Oakland in the draft.

Until the Raiders took Heyward-Bey.

"They took a receiver pretty high so I thought that Oakland was probably off the list," Murphy said. "I looked toward the other teams and never thought I'd be going to Oakland."

Murphy had 38 catches for 655 yards (17.2 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns. Heyward-Bey had 42 catches for 609 yards and five scores.

QUOTE TO NOTE: One of the things Mr. Davis and I discussed was that I want to very much have a plan. I want to really approach this that there were specific needs on our football team and the best player to fit those needs has been our goal," -- Raiders coach Tom Cable on the draft process.