Early-Round Decisions Weigh Heavily for Raiders

Thinking big, the Raiders drafted 653 pounds during the first two rounds of Sunday’s NFL draft with the hope it will be enough when push comes to shove in the AFC West.

After considering an offer from San Francisco about quarterback Steve Young, the Raiders kept the 16th overall pick and selected Clemson’s Chester McGlockton, a 337-pound defensive lineman who has drawn comparisons with another Clemson behemoth, William (Refrigerator) Perry.

Then, after trading up with Tampa Bay for the third pick during the second round, the Raiders selected Greg Skrepenak, a 316-pound offensive tackle from Michigan.

The Raiders hopes McGlockton will turn out like Refrigerator’s younger and more talented brother, Michael Dean Perry.

Not unusual for a Raider pick, McGlockton arrives with a tainted past.

On June 23, 1990, he was arrested at a Clemson nightclub and charged with three counts of assault and one count of public disorder.

The charges were dropped upon McGlockton’s completion of a pretrial intervention program.

The Raiders hope he will make a turnaround similar to that of last year’s sixth-round pick, Nolan Harrison, who left a clouded past at Indiana but has so far been the perfect gentleman.

Shell says that McGlockton’s character flaws can be worked out.

“I’ve met Chester, I’ve talked to him,” Shell said. “(Defensive line coach) Earl Leggett worked him and talked with him extensively. He walked away and felt good about him. And that counts a lot. Earl is a pretty good judge of character.”

Shell said the Raiders would use McGlockton as both a nose tackle and a defensive end. He is also not concerned about the player’s weight.

“You’ve got to understand,” he said. “The way this game is going, 300 pounds is nothing anymore. You’ve got big people playing in this league, and you better have big people to be able to stop the big teams.”

The Raiders took Skrepenak to push from the offensive side. Many had projected him as a first-round pick, so when he fell into the second round, the Raiders traded up to the third spot with the Buccaneers in exchange for third and seventh-round choices.