Oakland Raiders: What Is Reggie Actually Going To Do At Fourteen?
By Kevin Saito
The Oakland Raiders will be on the clock soon enough, but the question is, what will the team actually do with the pick?
Oakland Raiders fans – not to mention the talking heads in the sports world – all have their different theories on what GM Reggie McKenzie is going to do with the fourteenth overall pick. Even newcomer Bruce Irvin has his opinion, Tweeting out that the team should take West Virginia safety Karl Joseph – of course, being a WVU alum, he’s not exactly unbiased. But the question still remains – what will McKenzie do at fourteen?
Unlike the past couple of drafts, the Raiders aren’t in a position to take a sure fire, game changing talent a la Khalil Mack, Derek Carr, and Amari Cooper. No, picking in the middle of the draft order this year – a sign of their improvement – means that McKenzie and HC Jack Del Rio had better have done their homework. Though there is a lot of talent on the board, there are also a lot of question marks. The draft waters are quite a bit murkier when you’re not picking at the top.
If you needed proof of that, very recent indications have UCLA linebacker Myles Jack – who could have been the best player in the draft and a top five lock if not for his knee injury – sliding down the draft board, possibly all the way to the Raiders at fourteen.
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We know that the Giants have taken Jack off of their draft board, citing concerns about his knee, and a number of other clubs have expressed concern about his knee as well. Reggie Ragland, one tightly connected to the Raiders by some, has been disclosed to have an enlarged aorta – something that can be managed, but something that could potentially pose a problem. Robert Nkemdiche‘s personal quirks and troubles have some teams running for cover.
The point is that there are a lot of really talented players on the board, but when you get into the middle of the round, things aren’t quite as clear.
Which is why it would not be surprising in the least to see McKenzie trade back in the first round.
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McKenzie is nothing, if not cautious. And he values draft picks too much to throw one away on a question mark. Trading back and picking a player like Houston cornerback William Jackson III seems to be a very McKenzie-esque move and is more than likely what will happen in the opening round.
It wouldn’t be a bad pick as the Raiders need some depth at corner and Jackson has seen his draft stock shoot up over the last few weeks. If he can be had later in the first round, that’s likely what McKenzie will do.