Sadly this is a pretty real possibility.

Sadly? The dude is a beast. He got overshadowed by White at the combine, but if you look at their numbers, they actually had very similar combines. Cooper is a beast that has been doing this for 3 seasons, compared to White who has only had 1 good season.

Cooper had a stacked team

Yeah, but Blake Simms sucked, so there's that.

The White vs Cooper argument is basically a choice between taking a safe pick or taking a gamble on a better player.

Cooper and White have about the same floor but White has a much higher ceiling IMO. So like Senor Terps said, safe pick in Cooper who will have a few pro bowls under his belt but likely never be in that Top 10 discussion or White who could be in the top 5 discussion.

Considering White fits what we need more (someone with speed to stretch the field), I'd far rather take White. That being said, I'm not sure I'd really want either, even though Cooper is probably going to be our pick--management trying to shy away from the "draft speed over talent" image Oakland has.

Who do you think y'all would go after realistically in the #4 spot? I don't know the raiders needs at all.

Shelton or one of the WRs.

Cooper or trade

Would prefer a trade or one of the top defensive prospects (Williams, Fowler). Our needs are CB > S > RB > WR (slot) > DL. Picking up a good DE/DT would be great, and honestly preferable to one of the WRs since our WR need can easily be filled by a later pick (as can DL I suppose). For WR we really just need a speed guy, we can get it done with the people we have but adding a fast guy would be nice. DL is in a similar position, where we have enough to get the job done as is, but could definitely use some upgrades.

Our secondary is beyond trash. Probably the worst in the NFL, and that's not an exaggeration. RB is a huge need as well so our offense doesn't become so 1 dimensional and regress into "let Carr bail us out of 3rd and long every set of downs" again.

It's more like CB + S/RB/Slot WR + DL in terms of tiers of need. At least, in my opinion. This changes if our starting center leaves in FA, but if we resign him this is where we stand. OL was solid last year, QB is a plus, WRs were good enough to get it done most of the time, and our LBs are strong. Could use a MLB but we can go another year or two without, I think. TE/FB/P/K are solid. KR/PR is a problem but you worry about that shit after you have the major holes plugged.

At the very least, White would be a better selection than Cooper.