Oakland Raiders 2015 Draft Day: Call Your Shot [POLL]
By Kevin Saito
This is it, Oakland Raiders’ fans. We’re coming down to the last few hours before the start of the 2015 NFL Draft. Finally, right?
It’s sort of starting to feel like Christmas around here, isn’t it?
Just a few short hours from now, all of the endless speculation and rumors will come to an end – and Raider fans around the world can rejoice. If only because then, they won’t have to endure any more of the endless speculation and rumors.
The question of course, is what will Reggie McKenzie and Jack Del Rio do with that fourth overall pick?
While a hundred different mocks have the Raiders taking Leonard Williams, a hundred other mocks have them taking Amari Cooper, and still a hundred more have them trading down and accumulating a few more picks, given the complete radio silence from McKenzie and Del Rio, we still have no real idea what Oakland is planning on doing.
And of course, the Raider Nation is as divided as Oakland’s coaches and front office reportedly are about who to take. There is a load of talent in the top end of the draft. Cooper, Williams, Dante Fowler Jr., Kevin White – any one of those players could be plugged in on day one and make a serious contribution to the team. Any of those players would make the Raiders a better team immediately.
Oakland desperately needs to get it right and build upon the modest momentum they’ve been building with an excellent 2014 draft, some late season success last year, in which they won three of their final six games, and then a very solid 2015 free agency period.
This draft, in terms of adding some top tier talent to continue forwarding that momentum is crucial. And it’s not going to be an easy decision for the Raiders’ brass.
Live Feed
Arrowhead Addict
Of course, what the Raiders do will depend in large part, on what the teams ahead of them do. With Jameis Winston expected to go to Tampa first overall, and somebody, be it Tennessee or another team who cuts a deal – Cleveland sure seems committed to moving up – expected to take Mariota at two, the Raiders are in very good position to draft a very high impact player.
If the top two picks play out as anticipated, that leaves the Jaguars, sitting on the third overall pick, ahead of them in the draft order. And what Jacksonville might do is anybody’s guess at this point. With Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson as their two starting receivers, it makes a lot of sense for the Jaguars to go after a receiver to give second year QB Blake Bortles another weapon to work with. And as luck would have it, one of the current rumors floating around is that the Jags love Cooper and are planning on taking him.
More from Las Vegas Raiders News
- Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
- Raiders: Bryan Edwards out, Henry Ruggs doubtful for Sunday
- Raiders: Damon Arnette re-injures thumb, could be headed to IR
- Raiders fall short in letdown Week 3 loss to the New England Patriots
- Raiders: Game breakdown and prediction for Week 3 at New England Patriots
Of course, another set of rumors has the Jags committed to building up their defense and taking either Williams or Fowler – they are reportedly high on both.
Though some doubt it, Raider fans could see the 2014 NFL Draft play out all over again, when one of the – if not, the – best defensive player fell squarely into Oakland’s lap. Last year it was Khalil Mack and this year, there is a very real possibility that Williams could fall to four.
If that were the case, and Williams was still on the board when the Raiders were on the clock, it’s very likely that they wouldn’t be able to pass up on him. It’s understandable. Williams is one of the premier picks of this year’s draft class.
While it would make a good portion of the Raider Nation deliriously happy, another large contingent of the Oakland faithful would be a bit disappointed that the team passed up on Cooper, one of the premier offensive weapons on the board. The reasoning is simple enough – Derek Carr needs weapons to work with to make this Raider offense move. And score.
However, either way they go in those scenarios, they would have a very solid pick who will step in on day one, contribute to this team, and make it better.
The one thing many Raider fans do not want to see McKenzie do is surrender that fourth overall pick to move down the board. Even if it meant picking up another pick or two in the later rounds. The premier talent – at two of Oakland’s biggest areas of need in receiver and edge rusher – is in the top half of the first round. And the Raiders cannot afford to pass up on elite level talent. The needs are too great.
Plus, seeing McKenzie trade down in the first round is likely to trigger some not too pleasant flashbacks for some Raider fans – after all, it wasn’t all that long ago that McKenzie traded down in the first round and picked up D.J. Hayen. While it’s too early to tab Hayden a bust, he certainly hasn’t lived up to the first round status McKenzie gave him. Not yet, anyway.
Though he’s undoubtedly fielding a million calls, and is doing his due diligence as any reputablt GM would do, McKenzie absolutely has to hold on to that fourth pick and use it on an impact player, be they offense or defense.
The rumors are flying fast and furious – and will likely only continue to get hotter the closer we get to the kickoff of the 2015 Draft. There are a lot of moving parts, and it will be exciting to see what the Raiders do and how they will usher in the Del Rio era of football in Oakland.
Unless of course, they trade the pick. Which would be somewhat anticlimactic. And a bad move.
With that in mind, we’d like to hear from you all. What do YOU see Oakland doing with the fourth overall pick? Offense? Defense? Cooper? White? Williams? Fowler? Trade the pick?
We’d love to hear from you, so it’s time to sound off and call your shot. What is your prediction about what the Raiders will do with the fourth overall pick…