Oakland Raiders: 6 Questions That Need Answers Ahead of the Draft

Jan 16, 2015; Alameda, CA, USA; Jack Del Rio (second from right) poses with helmet and Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie (left), wife Linda Del Rio (second from left) and owner Mark Davis (right) at press conference to announce his hiring as Raiders head coach at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the big push in free agency is over, all eyes are beginning to turn towards the upcoming NFL Draft. Oakland Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie had a pretty good haul in free agency, adding ten total players – four or five of whom figure to start contributing immediately – but he still has some work to do yet.

Raiders’ owner Mark Davis, at the NFL Owners Meetings in Arizona this week, said that, though Oakland has added some significant pieces and upgraded at a number of positions, the team is not done adding pieces yet.

And given they’re still a pretty long way off from meeting the salary cap floor requirement, it’s probably a good idea they remain active on the free agent market. The question is, can they find some players out there who A) can step in and contribute on the field immediately, and B) are willing to roll the dice on playing in Oakland – a place some have derisively said is the place careers go to die.

More than a decade of losing will earn you that reputation, of course.

As we roll on the offseason though, and Oakland’s roster is beginning to take shape, we can see that the Raiders are far better up the middle on both sides of the ball. There is no doubt that McKenzie did well this offseason in upgrading his roster with impressive talent that is young, and has a lot of tread on the tires still. The average age of McKenzie’s FA class is just over 26, and has tremendous upside.

But though they’ve upgraded the roster in many tangible ways, there are still a number of compelling questions McKenzie and the Raiders must answer as we roll on toward the draft.

And here are just six of them…

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