After the longest wait to make a first draft pick in franchise history, there was no unnecessary hyperbole or grandiose declarations about how the Raiders got exactly whom they wanted.
General manager Reggie McKenzie opted for who he thought was the best player available Friday night in making Utah offensive lineman Tony Bergstrom the Raiders’ third-round pick after 94 names had been called.
“There’s no way you can know who you’re going to take at No. 95 until you see names come off the board,” McKenzie said. “He was still there and was the one we liked.”
Primarily a tackle at Utah, Bergstrom, 25, will play initially at guard for the Raiders, although McKenzie and coach Dennis Allen talked up his versatility.
“He fits the scheme with some of the zone blocking we’re doing, and he can get to the second level,” Allen said.
Free agent Mike Brisiel is currently the team’s starting right guard, with Cooper Carlisle playing on the left side with second-year player Stefen Wisniewski moving to center.
Bergstrom played guard at the Senior Bowl and interviewed with Raiders scouts and coaches there, as well as at the NFL scouting combine. He recalled being asked to draw up plays on the board with offensive line assistant Steve Wisniewski but did not make a pre-draft visit to the club facility.
“It’s one of those things where it’s a crapshoot,” Bergstrom said by conference call. “You never know what’s going to happen. I’d interviewed with some of the coaches, and when I got the phone call I couldn’t get more excited.”
Bergstrom has experience with a zone-blocking system at Utah, similar to the system the Raiders will run this year. He’s looking forward to the full-time transition to guard.
“It’s a little less finesse inside, a little more gritty,” Bergstrom said. “I’ve already changed my mindset to guard. That’s my mindset right now.”
Bergstrom served a Latter Day Saints mission in Stockton and the South Sacramento area out of high school, and agrees with McKenzie and Allen that his maturity level is a plus. Bergstrom is married and has a daughter.
“I’m no stranger to coming home and studying all day and spending time with the family instead of going out at night,” Bergstrom said. “As soon as I get my playbook I’m going back to that lifestyle of just studying every day and doing my workouts.
“If you come to my house, I’m usually sitting on a foam roller or something. I have a wife; she won’t let me get into any trouble. Physically, I feel like my body is as in as good a shape as any 20- or 21-year-old, and it will last just as long because I take care of it.”
Bergstrom’s brother-in-law Paul Kruger, plays defensive end for the Baltimore Ravens. Oakland plays at Baltimore on Nov. 11.
“He’s always been kind of an Oakland fan, so he’s excited for me to go there,” Bergstrom said.
McKenzie didn’t deny his first draft was a difficult experience. The longest the club had ever waited to make its first draft pick was in 1978, when defensive end Dave Browning was the 54th overall pick of the draft.
During Friday’s first round, the Raiders fielded very few phone calls from other teams and didn’t make many, either.
“It was hard to see a lot of good players come off the board, especially when it got into the third round,” McKenzie said. “We had no ammunition, no calls coming in to get into the first round.”
The Raiders have four picks Saturday in the fourth (No. 129), fifth (Nos. 148 and 168) and sixth (No. 189) rounds. The No. 129 and No. 168 picks are compensatory – as was Friday’s pick – and cannot be traded.
