Oakland Raiders: Five Late Round Prospects the Team Should Target

November 20, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) celebrates after running back Latavius Murray (28) scored a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

In 2014, the Oakland Raiders made some improvements to their roster as they tried to become a relevant team in the NFL again. Most of the improvement the team experienced is because of the breakout performances of two stud rookies in QB Derek Carr, and superstar LB Khalil Mack.

Along with Carr and Mack, the Raiders have a solid core of young players that includes RB Latavius Murray, OLB Sio Moore, CB D.J. Hayden, DT Justin Ellis, WR Rod Streater.  Oakland has paired those young playmakers along with some solid veterans like DE Justin Tuck, and SS Charles Woodson.

While those are all solid parts to build upon, the Raiders still fell to a 3-13 record and a last place finish in the AFC West in 2014. If they want to compete in 2015 they’re going to have to continue to improve their roster on both sides of the ball through free agency and the draft.

In the early days of free agency they have already missed out on big names like Ndamukong Suh, Randall Cobb, and Julius Thomas. While they missed out on some of the bigger names, they did sign C Rodney Hudson to a five year deal. This will be beneficial for aforementioned second year QB Derek Carr and RB Latavius Murray. But if the Raiders truly want to compete they will need to add more.

They have the fourth overall pick in this year’s NFL draft and most suspect they will either spend it on a WR or DE/OLB. The key for the Raiders though is that they have so many positions they need to fill they need to find value in more than just the first and second round. They will need to be able to pick out some diamonds in the rough in the later rounds of the draft.

While none of these players are Dante Fowler, Jr. or Amari Cooper, they are all late round guys that could develop into game changers for the Oakland Raiders. While the later rounds usually seem like a dart throw in terms of choosing the right prospect, the Raiders will have to hit the bull’s-eye to obtain more value to make their franchise formidable in the daunted AFC West and the NFL once again.

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