THE NFL DRAFT : Raiders : For Once, Top Drawer Isn’t Bare

Remember the days when the Raider dynasty sat in the cheap seats on draft day, let 25 teams or so pick before them and tried to scope out a longshot?

Well, they’re over.

You with the eye patch, come on d-o-w-n!

The Raiders are have-nots, coming off a 5-10 season with a franchise to rebuild. As a reward for their worst record in 25 years, they’re picking sixth Sunday, their highest choice since the advent of the common draft.

It’s a heady thing, being up to their eyeballs in sky blue chippers. Not only that, they have a pair of No. 2 selections, their own, which is the 34th pick overall, and the one they got from the Houston Oilers for 32-year-old Bruce Davis.

So which blue chip will don the silver and black?

Tim Brown?

Rickey Dixon?

Neil Smith?

Sterling Sharpe?

Michael Irvin?

There are scenarios leading to all of the above. It depends on which player the Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals select--the Atlanta Falcons have already signed Auburn linebacker Aundray Bruce--and whether any of the daily rumors about the Raiders trading up, down or sideways have any merit at all.

Here is the latest look at the top of the draft:

1. Atlanta--Bruce.

2. Detroit--Miami safety Benny Blades, if they keep the choice. However Detroit General Manager Jerry Vainisi Tuesday brought up and didn’t deny a report that the Raiders offered to trade their No. 1 and one of their No. 2s for the Lions’ pick. The Raiders would then draft Nebraska defensive end Neil Smith, whom they are known to prize highly. They would then trade Sean Jones to the Oilers for Houston’s No. 1 pick.

(This couldn’t just be Vainisi trying to pump up interest in the Lions’ pick, could it? This “report” surfaced when Vainisi volunteered to a Detroit writer that he’d been asked about it by someone from the Los Angeles Times. A Times writer who called Vainisi couldn’t be found.)

Remember when Detroit Coach Darryl Rogers was pushing for Tim Brown? Now he’s said to have switched to South Carolina wide receiver Sterling Sharpe. Either way, he figures to lose.

3. Kansas City--Neil Smith. This was supposed to be carved in stone but a general manager says they’re still thinking Tim Brown, too.

4. Tampa--Blades if he’s there, Sharpe if he isn’t.

5. Cincinnati--Everyone figures Oklahoma cornerback Dixon but the Bengals are talking Brown and even Craig (Ironhead) Heyward, too. They’re not trying to sucker the poor Rams, who want Ironhead badly, into trading up, are they?

6. Raiders--If Brown and Dixon are both available, says a Raider official, “It’s going to be a long discussion.”

If Brown, Smith and Dixon are gone, try Sharpe, who is said to look good to Al Davis.

If Brown, Smith, Dixon and Sharpe are gone, try Irvin, the Miami receiver.

This crop of Brown-Sharpe-Irvin, with Tennessee’s Anthony Miller and Arizona State’s Aaron Cox, is so well regarded, it’s compared to Jerry Rice-Al Toon-Eddie Brown in 1985, and even James Lofton-John Jefferson-Wes Chandler in 1978.

Brown is a game-breaker to suit even the taste of Davis, whose favorite boast is that he has a player--it used to be Cliff Branch--who “strikes terror in enemy hearts.”

Sharpe is either not far behind, or even better. Some, like Tampa Coach Ray Perkins, think he’s harder-nosed, no less explosive and surpasses Brown.

Irvin, at 6-2 and 200 pounds, is bigger than either Brown or Sharpe. He doesn’t run as well after the catch, but gets open deep as well.

However, the Raider cornerbacks are also one of Davis’ historic priorities, and they’ve struck a little fear of their own in his heart lately.

Lester Hayes will need the greatest comeback since Lazarus to stay off the waiver wire, or indeed, in the game. His replacement, Lionel Washington, didn’t cut it last season. And a Raider official points out that the steady corner, one-time all-universe Mike Haynes, has missed seven starts in two seasons, and he’ll be 35.

There are a couple of problems posed by drafting Dixon. One, he’s 5-10 and Davis has always preferred taller cornerbacks.

“Prefer?” one general manager said. “They insist on it.”

However, that same general manager says they’d take Dixon. And another confirms indications from Raider officials that they do love Dixon.

“I think they really like Dixon, despite all this 6-foot-and-under stuff they’re putting out,” GM No. 2 said.

The other problem is that Dixon has never actually played the corner. He was a safety at Oklahoma, although he did have a lot of man-to-man coverage and excelled at it. That makes him a gamble, but the Raiders believe that the worst thing that could happen is that they would have to play him at safety, where they think he’d be semi-brilliant.

Their other picks?

If they don’t get Dixon, they’ll be looking for a cornerback in the second round. Try Eric Allen of Arizona State or Terry Williams of Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Everyone waiting for a new quarterback, don’t hold your breath. This draft has none expected to go in the first round, unless the Phoenix Cardinals fail to make a deal and let Kelly Stouffer go around again.

There has been speculation that the Raiders are interested in Ohio State quarterback Tom Tufa, but more because of his punting. Tufa is big and strong with a Raider arm, but as a quarterback, he’s considered a long-range prospect.

Are the Raiders interested in trading for or drafting Stouffer?

“No,” a team source said. “We never were.”

The Raiders are looking for outside linebackers, since Rod Martin is 35. But after Cal’s Ken Harvey and Florida’s Clifford Charlton, both of whom are expected to go in the first round, the quality falls off.

And of course, somewhere down the line waits the annual Al Davis surprise.

Two years ago, it was Napoleon McCallum. Last spring it was Bo Jackson.

The mind boggles: J.R. Reid, North Carolina basketball star? All he said was he wasn’t going into pro basketball.

Raider Notes

Rumor control: A Raider official says there has been absolutely no conversation with the Washington Redskins about quarterback Jay Schroeder. Also, another general manager doubts that the Redskins will trade Schroeder. He said: “I know there have been some problems between Schroeder and Joe Gibbs. I know Schroeder was unhappy about going into camp as the backup. I just think when push comes to shove, there’s no way they’re going to go to war with Doug Williams, who’s one hit away from the end, and an untried young guy (former Washington State star Mark Rypien).”