ALAMEDA — How badly would Cliff Branch like to see the Raiders’ long-standing problem at wide receiver be solved on Thursday?

“I am on my knees every day, begging and pleading to Mark Davis to get Amari Cooper,” said one of the most decorated wide receivers in franchise history.

Of course, the decision of whether to select the Alabama wide receiver with the No. 4 pick in Thursday’s NFL draft rests more with general manager Reggie McKenzie and coach Jack Del Rio. But Branch’s sentiment echoes that of many others in Raider Nation, who long to see a rich aerial attack tradition revitalized.

The addition of Derek Carr last year appears to have fulfilled half of the equation. A young game-ready talent at wideout, in yet another draft deep with them, would be a next logical step. Cooper and West Virginia’s Kevin White are the popular options to pair with Carr.

Cooper’s skills “are so advanced and so polished. It’s just a no-brainer to me,” said Branch, who caught 501 passes for 8,685 yards and 67 touchdowns in 15 seasons and was a key performer in all three Super Bowl championships.

That feeling is seconded by another Raiders receiving legend, recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Tim Brown.

“From what I saw from Amari Cooper, he is very special,” said Brown, the Raiders’ all-time leading receiver with 1,070 receptions for 14,734 and 99 touchdowns. “He’s a guy that can come in and be a Day 1 starter and I think it would be wise of them to bring in another guy to go with Michael Crabtree. You’ve got a veteran and a young guy you can build this thing around for years to come.”

Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin utilized Cooper to create mismatches in the secondary and the result was 124 receptions for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns. In a breakout year at West Virginia, White caught 109 passes for 1,447 and 10 scores.

Either player would be expected to follow in the footsteps of Branch, Brown and Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff and thrive as wide receivers drafted and developed by the Raiders.

The Raiders and late owner Al Davis lost their way in terms of identifying wide receivers in the draft since they returned to Oakland in 1995. They’ve drafted 20 wide receivers in those 21 seasons with minimal success.

Only five receivers drafted by the Raiders are currently on NFL rosters — their own Brice Butler (seventh round, 2013), Denarius Moore (Bengals, fifth round, 2011), Jacoby Ford (Titans, fourth round, 2010), Louis Murphy (Bucs, fourth round, 2009) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (Steelers, first round, 2009).

None of those players is a lock to make the 53-man roster on their respective teams.

In the past 21 years, second-round pick Jerry Porter in 2000 made the biggest impact with 284 receptions for 3,939 yards and 30 touchdowns in eight seasons.

In a league where the yearly number of wide receivers who gain 1,000 yards is in double figures, the Raiders haven’t had a 1,000-yard season since Randy Moss in 2005. Moss had 1,005 yards receiving that year in one of the least productive seasons of his career to that point.

The classic reach was Heyward-Bey, a size-speed Al Davis projection who topped out at 64 receptions for 975 yards in 2011 but never developed into a fluid, reliable pass-catcher.

It’s no wonder much of the fan base, as well as Branch and Brown, would love to see Cooper on the board if he gets past Jacksonville at No. 3.

Former Raiders coach Jon Gruden compared Cooper to Brown in a recent ESPN Insider piece, calling him “The Natural” and noting “he will line up to the left, he will line up to the right and he will be in the slot. He runs a large inventory of routes. If the coverage breaks, he knows how to adjust the pattern. He can get in and out of his breaks. He has savvy and he is elusive after the catch.”

Brown, however, said Cooper is much further along than he was as the Heisman Trophy winner out of Notre Dame. Brown, who went No. 6 overall to the Raiders in 1988, said he hoped to be taken by the Raiders because of the presence of James Lofton and Mervyn Fernandez.

“I didn’t want to go someplace where I was the savior,” Brown said. “I knew it would take some time to get adjusted to the NFL game.”

Branch, a fourth-round pick in 1972, caught 13 passes for 330 yards as a Colorado senior and had nine rushes for 235 yards. A world class sprinter, Branch was one of the NFL’s premiere deep threats but like Brown had a lot to learn about the pro game.

While Branch was the beneficiary of organizational stability, Raiders receivers drafted over the past 21 years have not been so fortunate. During that span the Raiders have had 11 head coaches, 13 different offensive coordinators and 24 starting quarterbacks.

“I played in the same offensive system for 15 years,” Branch said. “When I see John Madden and Tom Flores I can still remember all the same audibles.”

Said Brown: “You’ve had coaching staffs in and out, players in out, and when you have instability at quarterback, it makes it tough,” Brown said. “You look at Raiders receivers over the years, it’s hard to keep them on the field for 16 games.”

Asked directly about getting a wide receiver high in the draft, McKenzie said, “I appreciate the question, but you’re not getting anything.”

When it comes to getting a wide receiver in the draft of late, Raiders fans can relate.

For more on the Raiders, visit the Inside the Oakland Raiders blog at ibabuzz.com/oaklandraiders. Follow Jerry McDonald on Twitter at twitter.com/Jerrymcd.