Wilson showing up and showing out with his two sacks was as needed as his hit on the safety of Shane Buechele was impressive.
So I asked Wilson if he felt the air leave Buechele’s body on the picture-perfect hit. Wilson, a former No. 7 overall draft pick who had four sacks on the season and now has 12 in his three-year career, shrugged as he carefully placed his black Stetson cowboy hat upon his head.
“Nah, nah, I couldn’t,” Wilson laughed. “Pre-rush, I knew the chip [block] was outside, I got outside. [Defensive line coach] Robbie [Leonard] told me to burn it. He was there, he held the ball, and I smoked him. I tried to get the ball off of him.”
From a certain point of view, the safety proved to be the two-point difference in the game.
From another, it was the final game in another season filled with what-if’s, and what-was-that’s?
Still, as Davis got into his car to leave the stadium, I reminded him of the capital and draft-controlling factor that comes with holding the No. 1 pick. No, I didn’t congratulate him on having the top pick for the first time since the Raiders selected JaMarcus Russell in 2007. Or remind him that the only other time the Raiders had the first pick of a draft was a year before his father came to the Raiders, the 1962 AFL Draft.
Though Roman Gabriel chose the NFL’s Rams instead.
But in today’s NFL, there is something exciting about holding that top pick. An aura all by itself. The eyes of the entire league are on you and, well, you have some semblance of control, right?
“That’s great but that’s for the future,” Davis said. “We’ve got some things to figure out now.”
Welcome to the world in which the Raiders live…for now.
