2004 NFL Draft Recap - Cal Players Taken

2004 was a very quiet year for Cal’s player presence in the draft considering they came off a year in which they had two first round selections. Only two players were selected in the draft, and both have had a rocky journey to say in the least in four years they've been in the pros. And what's worse, they've both ended up with the Raiders...

5^th Round

19(151 Overall) Washington - Mark Wilson OT

Mark Wilson was drafted in the 5^th round by the Redskins, and ended up breaking his bloody (no pun intended) nose before the season began. He was inactive for seven of the first 11 games of the season, before making his first NFL start in Week 12. He went right back onto the inactive list the week after hurting his knee in that game, and sat out the rest of the year.

New year, fresh start. Wilson was back and ready to challenge for a starting spot or at least serve as a solid backup…before he ended up spraining his back in fall camp. The Redskins pretty much said, “Ahh to hell with it” and released him on Sept. 3, 2005.

The Vikings snatched him right up two days later, and signed him to the practice squad. Poor guy ended up getting released the following year, without playing a meaningful down.

The Oakland Raiders picked him up in Jan of 2007, before waiving him in September, only to sign him to their practice squad a few days later. Although Wilson, still would end up getting promoted to the active squad near the end of the season, he still would not get any playing time.

So in the end, we have a tackle that has started and played in one NFL game, and has battled the injury bug or practice squad hell for the last 4 years. The good news is that he was recently resigned by the Raiders last month, so will again have to compete for some real playing time.

7^th Round

7(208 Overall) Cleveland - Adimchinobi Echemandu RB

In Echemandu’s short four year career in the NFL, he’s already become a RB journey man, signing with 4 different teams, twice with the Raiders. Let’s recap shall we?

Echemandu was drafter in 2004 by the Browns, and saw only eight carries for 25 yards, and caught the ball only 3 times for 25 yards.

He then signed with the Minnesota Vikings the following year and didn’t get any snaps, spending most of his time on the practice squad. When asked why, he simply cited “Politics of the game.” (Houston Chronicle)

In 2006, Echemandu signed with the Oakland Raiders’ practice squad, and only saw action in preseason games.

2007 began shaping up more interestingly for Joe as he was praised openly by then new Raider’s coach Lane Kiffin as the team’s “surprise player.” But the depth at the tailback position in Oakland (the emergence of Justin Fargas, veteran Lamont Jordan, Dominic Rhodes coming off suspension, and Lousiville draft pick Michael Bush) pretty much ruled him out of any playing time, and Echemandu was cut.

Echemandu called it a “blessing disguise” because he almost immediately signed with the proverbial empty backfield of the Houston Texans, and made an immediate contribution. In his first game in which he received a considerable number of carries, Echemandu rushed for 62 yards on 10 carries against the Chargers. And next up was the game against the Raiders, the same team that had cut him. Sweet sweet redemption.

Except…in that 62 yard performance, Echemandu ended up pulling his hamstring on the first play of the game, and would proceed to only get 2 carries in the Oakland game for 6 carries, and limited carries for the rest of the season.

Echemandu was then cut by the Texans at the end of the year, and resigned with Oakland in 2008.

On a side note, I think it’s interesting that the Raiders decided to pick up Echemandu at this point in the year. I know Kiffin was a fan of his last year, but with all the talk about the Raiders picking up Darren McFadden in the draft, that would give them SIX running backs if they don’t release Lamont Jordan (which they will). You have to wonder whether they will actually indeed pick up McFadden, or if Joe is merely a pawn to make it seem like the Raiders are no longer interested in McFadden to help increase the likelihood they will draft him. Who knows what Davis is thinking?

All in all, I would love to see Joe get a fair shake with an NFL team, and see what he can do with a healthy season. Mainly because of his significant contributions to Cal during his time year, but also because I'd just love to see all of his hard work and commitment pay off. And because he was also a Soc major like myself and former Cal baller A.J. Diggs and his name is flat out pimp. Adim-chee-noh-bee.....ECHE MANDU. Pimp.