The Oakland Raiders have been stuck in a tough situation for nearly a decade and one move that the team wanted to make but didn't could be one of the reasons why, as Peter King from SI.com reported that deceased owner Al Davis and former coach Hue Jackson wanted to make a draft day trade for Colin Kaepernick.
According to SI.com and NFL.com, the Oakland Raiders loved what they saw leading up to the draft in Kaepernick and when the 2011 event started up, owner Al Davis and coach Hue Jackson had their eyes on the quarterback from Nevada. According to King, Jackson said that the team wanted Kaepernick badly and that they had him as their top rated quarterback. The team ranked him higher than Andy Dalton, Christian Ponder and even Cam Newton, who was the number one pick that year.
The team had the chance to make a move and didn't and looking back, Jackson knows that the Raiders missed out on a big move. The team did not have a first round pick to use after giving it up in the trade for Richard Seymour, so they tried to move up from the second round if they could. Kaepernick spoke to King for the story and said that he thought they would pick him, as the team really wanted him, while he also said that the 49ers were quiet towards him after working him out. Clearly that strategy worked, as Oakland balked on a package with the New England Patriots to move up in the draft.
The Raiders had the chance to trade their second round pick, which turned into center Stefan Wisniewski, to the Patriots to jump into the first pick of the second round, but after not doing so, the 49ers were able to sneak in at number 36 in a move with the Denver Broncos and they took Kepernick. Legend has it that Al Davis threw a glass across the room after the pick, while Jackson said that it might not be true, although the team really did want Kaepernick.
Kaepernick ended up getting his chance when Alex Smith went down and he proved that he has the tools to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He led the team through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl before losing to the Ravens, Jackson said that his arm and his ability to win games at Nevada was one reason why the team wanted him and that he knew he would be a good NFL player. Now the Raiders must wonder what might have been, as they could be the team on the Bay with the star young quarterback who just made a Super Bowl appearance. Instead they are trying to rebound after a tough 4-12 season.