Bates Offers Hope Raiders End Trend : Pro football: Last two first-round draft choices, Marinovich and McGlockton, have been problems.

In this year’s NFL draft, the Raiders raised some hopes, a question and a few eyebrows.

In other words, a typical Raider draft.

The hope is that first-round pick Patrick Bates, a safety from Texas A&M;, can help fill the gaping hole left by the defection of free agent Ronnie Lott to the New York Jets.

The question is what happens to quarterback Todd Marinovich, now that the Raiders have drafted Billy Joe Hobert of Washington?

The eyebrows were raised over Hobert’s selection when the Raiders would appear to need help at linebacker.

There was some thought that the Raiders would trade up to the No. 3 spot in the first round, held by the New York Jets before the start of the draft, and use it to get linebacker Marvin Jones of Florida State, clearly the star of the defensive class of ’93.

“We discussed it,” Coach Art Shell said. “But nothing ever came of it.”

The Raiders finished the eight-round draft Monday with three more picks:

Fifth round--Olanda Truitt, 6 feet, 189 pounds, wide receiver from Mississippi State.

Said Shell: “An excellent receiver as far as running routes. He has excellent hands. He’s an over-the-middle guy, but he has sneaky speed. He can get deep, also.”

Sixth round--Sent to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in a trade of draft picks.

Seventh round--Greg Biekert, 6-2, 231, inside linebacker from Colorado.

Shell: “He’s one of those tough guys, a very tough individual. We feel he has a chance to be an extra special-teams player. He can play the rover position and take guards on. That’s important in the way we play football. He has decent speed, and he has an outside chance to make our football team.”

Eighth round--Greg Robinson, 5-11, 208, tailback from Northeast Louisiana.

Shell: “He has speed and quickness. He has great ability to catch the ball coming out of the backfield. He can make people miss.”

The two other players the Raiders were hoping to have a chance to draft with their No. 12 overall pick were offensive tackles Willie Roaf of Louisiana Tech, taken with the eighth pick by the New Orleans Saints; and Lincoln Kennedy of Washington, selected ninth by the Atlanta Falcons. There was some feeling that Kennedy, who reportedly weighs about 330 pounds, might have dropped in the draft as his weight rose.

“I wish he had gotten up to 400 pounds,” Shell said. “Then maybe he would have dropped down to us.”

With only eight rounds in this year’s draft, as opposed to the 12 of the last few years, the Raiders plan on filling out the squad that reports for training camp in Oxnard on July 11 by signing more free agents. But Shell says the draftees will get the longest looks.

“With all the picks we got, we feel each of them can come in here and compete for a job,” Shell said. “It was not a thing where we were just going to pick a guy to pick a guy.”

Every coach says something similar the day after the draft, but reality often yields something else.

It has for the Raiders in each of the last two seasons, which ended with disappointing finishes. Marinovich, their first-round pick in 1991, finds himself competing for a spot on the roster with the selection of Hobert. And defensive lineman Chester McGlockton, their first-round choice last season, was injured in the exhibition season and spent much of the year trying to get on the field.

The Raiders hope that Bates will reverse that trend. And, perhaps, help turn their fortunes around as well.

Raider Selections

Rd(Ovl) Player College Pos 1.(12) Patrick Bates Texas A&M; DB 3.(58) Billy Joe Hobert Washington QB 3.(72) James Trapp Clemson DB 5.(125) Olanda Truitt Miss. St. WR 7.(181) Greg Biekert Colorado LB 8.(208) Greg Robinson NE Louisiana RB