Oakland Raiders: Should Say No To Jack Conklin And Yes To Donald Penn

A few mock drafts have the Oakland Raiders taking Jack Conklin in the first round – here’s why they should say no to that idea and re-sign Donald Penn.

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The Oakland Raiders apparently still have some needs along the offensive line. Sure, they can upgrade with a right guard, but for the most part, this unit performed very, very well. A few early mock drafts are projecting that the Raiders will select Jack Conklin out of Michigan State to address some of those needs. But if McKenzie hopes to provide Derek Carr with solid protection – with players he has terrific chemistry and trust with already – and help move this offense to the next level, he’ll resist the urge to draft Conklin and will instead, re-sign Donald Penn so he can address the team’s more pressing needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Penn is a known quantity to Carr and to the team. Over his two years in Silver and Black, Penn has been rated as one of the top ten left tackles in the NFL and has provided solid protection for Carr. Sure, critics will nitpick every nuance to his game. He wasn’t good in run blocking. He wasn’t an adequate pass blocker. But the facts are the facts and Penn was the anchor on an offensive line that produced a very near 4,000 yard passer, a 1,000 yard runner, a 1,000 yard receiver – and a second receiver who was just a shade off 1,000 yards.

Feel free to spin it however you want – as we’re sure some of you will – but a team doesn’t get to those sorts of offensive numbers without having solid protection up front. And Penn was a large part of that group.

But to hear some people talk now, Penn isn’t worth the money he will likely earn on the open market – Spotrac projects Penn’s value to be $14 million over two seasons. As one of the top three offensive tackles on the market, that doesn’t seem to be unreasonable. But some would rather see that money earmarked for either Will Beatty or Russell Okung.

The problem with that thought process and letting Penn walk is that there is no guarantee that Beatty would even want to come to the East Bay and Okung is still dealing with an injury to his shoulder that was serious enough to require surgery – and there is no telling how he’ll bounce back from it. In Penn, they have a player that Carr is familiar and very comfortable with, a player who has performed at a very high level for the team, and oh yeah, a player who’s already stated his desire to remain with the team.

If McKenzie continues playing this game of chicken with Penn – and has no guarantees from players like Beatty or Okung – he’s going to completely alienate him and that desire he had to remain in Silver and Black will be dry up faster than the Mojave Desert in the Summer.

And then what will the Raiders be left with? A gaping hole at left tackle.

The answer to that, as some will undoubtedly assert – as they already have been – is simply to use their first round pick on Michigan State’s Jack Conklin. As if drafting Conklin is going to shore up all of the problems on the offensive line and take this unit to the next level. An assertion that’s – well – very uncertain. At best.

Let’s address the obvious thing first. The Raiders haven’t been really all that good when it comes to drafting offensive linemen in recent history. Since 1980, the Raiders have used a first or second round pick on an offensive tackle and the results have been decidedly – well – negative. Just take a look at the list of tackles Oakland has taken in the first or second round over the last 35 years – Curt Marsh (first round 1981); Ed Muransky (second round 1982); John Clay (second round 1987); Bruce Wilkerson (second round 1987); Mo Collins (first round 1998); Matt Stinchcomb (first round 1999); Robert Gallery (first round 2004); Menelik Watson (second round 2013).

Not exactly a murderer’s row of offensive linemen, is it?

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There could be some debate about Gallery’s performance for the team, but there really can’t be a lot of debate about the fact that he woefully underperformed from what he was projected to do as a professional. Also, the jury is still out on Watson since he showed some signs of life and improvement last season before an injury wiped out his entire year.

All of this is to say that drafting an offensive lineman is a horrendously inexact science. For every Anthony Munoz or Orlando Pace, there are at least a dozen Tony Mandarich‘s and Robert Gallery’s out there. There are more failed rookie offensive linemen – and the Raiders have had their fair share – than there are Hall of Famers.

Some scouts who are already sold on Conklin as the next big thing are already saying that he is a sure thing and will be a big time performer. But when you look at the actual scouting reports, there are some real red flags waving – or at least, they should be waving.

While the scouting report lists some of his strengths in glowing terms, it’s some of his weaknesses that should be real cause for alarm.

"“Adequate length, but doesn’t play like it, allowing rushers into his body at times in an attempt to control them. Not a light mover and slow to recover once rushers gain a step. Tends to get his feet tied up in his outside kickslide, lunging and falling off balance. Will open up prematurely and struggle in space. Not a rangy player and too often late to climb to the second level. Technique tends to break down vs. speed. Medical reports are important – suffered a left knee sprain (Sept. 2015) and missed two games.”"

That seems to jibe with another scouting report:

"“Inconsistent pass blocker who appears to struggle versus speed rushers. Will get too high out of his stance and will set up wide throwing off his balance. Will open up his outside shoulder to the rusher giving him an angle to get to the quarterback. Will be caught leaning towards the defender which allows them to swipe his arms off and get by him. Often times his feet would not be set and his arms down by hips while the defender is already into his chest bullying him backwards. Demonstrates poor balance as often times he would wind up on the ground after a pass play. Might lack the necessary foot speed to play left tackle. Might be best suited at right tackle or inside at guard.”"

The last thing the Raiders need, at this critical juncture of their development, is a left tackle who can’t play the position. Having a rookie left tackle who is a liability out there is going to get Carr killed – and then what? What’s the plan if the Raiders draft Conklin, he lives up to those weaknesses rather than his projected strengths, and Carr gets blown up?

Scouting reports aren’t an exact science either, of course. It’s possible that Conklin could develop into a top shelf left tackle. But it’s a really huge roll of the dice to take when the Raiders are on the verge of becoming a relevant playoff team again.
Will Conklin be the next Pace or will he be the next Mandarich? We’re not sure yet. And that’s the point. Until you know what you are going to get, why would you risk the health and fortune of the team on an unknown quantity over an already proven commodity?

Wouldn’t the smarter, safer route be to take a tackle in the later rounds and let a player like Penn groom him to take over? Doing so would allow the team to address a real need — like middle linebacker or more pressing, their secondary.

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Good left tackles don’t grow on trees and Penn has proven himself to be a good one and worth the investment for another season or two. Unless McKenzie has another, better plan than re-signing Penn in his pocket, he should suck it up and pay the man. The longer he waits, the dicier the game gets. And with so much riding on this season as the Raiders strive to return to prominence, they have a lot more to lose than a few million bucks.

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