Oakland Raiders: Go defense heavy in initial seven-round mock draft

With the expected – and highly anticipated – departure of Reggie Nelson, the Raiders are going to need some help at the safety spot, with just Karl Joseph, Shalom Luani, and some other guys who probably won’t be there next season.

They’re going to need some help and while they will likely dip into free agency to pick up an established veteran to help fortify the defensive backfield, they’ll need more warm, competent bodies back there.

Enter Auburn safety, Tray Matthews.

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At six-foot-one, 209 pounds, he’s got good size, and great speed for a safety. He can get sideline to sideline in a hurry, and has great closing speed – traits that Nelson sorely lacked.

Matthews has a good nose for the ball, racking up five total interceptions, and 11 passes defensed in his one year at Georgia, and final three at Auburn. He also amassed 216 total tackles (127 solo), forced a fumble, and recovered three others.

He is a bit of a project, so if the Raiders can bring in a veteran to pair with Joseph while Matthews learns the nuances of the game, it would probably be ideal. If coached up right, he will be able to take better angles to the ball and become a better open field tackler – two areas of weakness in his game, according to scouts.

He’s got a ton of upside, and the Raiders need some help and depth at safety, which makes a sixth-round flyer on a guy like Matthews a good pick.