THE RAIDERS : Drafting in 23rd Spot, They Still Have Hopes of Getting Top Athlete

The Raiders are only looking for a few good men in Tuesday’s National FootbaLL League draft, which is fortunate for them since they’re selecting 23rd in the first round, and then not again until the third.

It may not sound like much, but it’s something they’ve grown accustomed to, after years of high finishes. In their organization, a 23rd pick is tall cotton. It will be the Raiders’ earliest since they got Marcus Allen with the No. 10 selection in the first round three years ago.

That spring, they departed from their normal posture of drafting the best athlete. In 1982, they were looking for a running back. “We were way down then,” said Raider personnel director Ron Wolf. “We were coming off a disastrous year (7-9). We knew exactly where we were going to go. We were going to select a back under any circumstances.”

The Raiders are not coming off a disastrous year now. Despite all of last season’s injuries to the quarterback corps and the offensive line, they finished 11-5. Even so, there has been speculation that they’re going for a position again, wide receiver, with their long-time long threat, Cliff Branch, 36 years old and coming off a season in which he caught no touchdown passes.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Wolf said. “The way we see this draft going, we have a hunch--whether it’s valid or not we won’t know until Tuesday--that we’re going to be looking at a good defensive player. What I’m saying is we’re not going to select a wide receiver regardless of who he is if that defensive lineman or linebacker comes through.”

Wolf even suggested that the Raiders, who already have a killer defensive secondary, would draft a defensive back. “You can never have enough,” he said.

There has also been speculation that the team feels a need to shore up the offensive line. Inside Sports magazine’s mock draft, for example, has the Raiders taking USC’s Ken Ruettgers. The consensus, however, is that Ruettgers will be gone before the 23rd pick. Wolf suggests that all other speculation about the offensive is off the mark, too.

“We got injured last year in the offensive line,” he said. “We feel with a year under some of these guys’ belts that we’ll be all right there.”

In general, Wolf considers this draft deep enough to do the Raiders some good. “It’s not the kind of draft where the big-name players jump out at you. It’s the kind of draft that has a lot of good players in it. We don’t have a second-round choice (sent to the Patriots in the Mike Haynes deal) but in the second and third rounds, we think think there are chances to select a player who in the long run will be as good as some of those taken on the bottom of the first round.”

And now, a rough form chart:

--If it’s a wide receiver--Expected to be gone by the time the Raiders pick are Miami’s Eddie Brown, Jerry Rice of Mississippi Valley State and Al Toon of Wisconsin.

There is a second group rated below those three that includes Jessie Hester of Florida State, who has been timed at 4.45 in the 40-yard dash; Stacy Robinson, a 4.35 man from North Dakota State, and Vance Johnson, a burner from Arizona. The Raiders might get a shot at one of them.

--If a defensive lineman--The top group is expected to go in a hurry. Buffalo has already signed Bruce Smith of Virginia Tech. Houston is expected to use its No. 2 selection on Ray Childress of Texas A&M;, and Washington’s Ron Holmes figures to go to Tampa Bay on the eighth pick.

After those three there is a second group that includes Stanford’s Garin Veris, Notre Dame’s Mike Gann and Michigan’s Kevin Brooks.

--If a linebacker--Pitt’s Chris Doleman has run the 40 in 4.65 and was originally expected to go high, but seems to have dropped lately because of an inconsistency rap. He might be there when the Raiders draft. USC’s Duane Bickett should be gone, but the other Trojan, Jack Del Rio, is now generally projected as a second-rounder. Another possibility is Mississippi’s Freddie Joe Nunn.

--If a defensive back--Richard Johnson of Wisconsin should be gone but the Raiders could have a shot at Derrick Burroughs of Memphis State, Torran Nixon of San Diego State or John Healy of Long Beach State. Possible safeties include Jerry Gray of Texas, and Issiac Holt of Alcorn State.