Oakland Raiders: Re-Drafting the 2017 class using the power of hindsight
By Kevin Saito
Round 3 (88) – Eddie Vanderdoes
The Raiders took UCLA product Eddie Vanderdoes in the third-round, the eighty-eighth overall pick – with the hopes that he would help add some punch to the interior of a defensive line sorely lacking just that.
In camp and preseason, Vanderdoes flashed. He showed some ability to put some pressure up the gut. He showed so much promise, some believed the Raiders might have gotten one of the biggest steals of the draft by nabbing Vanderdoes in the third-round.
Yeah, didn’t quite work out that way. That’s not to say Vanderdoes won’t work out or that he’s a draft bust – it’s still far too early to slap that label on the guy – but it is saying, that the bloom is most definitely off the rose and we need to scale our expectations for Vanderdoes way back.
He appeared in all 16 games for Oakland last season – making 13 starts – before tearing his ACL in the season finale. There’s no telling whether or not he’ll be ready to roll once camp opens.
Rather than being a stalwart and explosive piece up front, he may well end up being a serviceable rotation piece. At best.
Given that, and since there are plenty of serviceable rotation pieces they can pick up on the cheap, we would throw Vanderdoes back into the draft pool and select somebody else with that eighty-eighth overall pick.
We’ll be staying on the defensive side of the ball and drafting to another glaring area of need. And that pick would have been a player who could have addressed those needs.
Scouting Report. Safety. John Johnson. player. 28. Pick Analysis. Boston College. 88
At six feet, 208 pounds, John Johnson (Rd. 3, ninety-first overall, Rams) has size and speed. He’s also versatile enough that he can play safety or cornerback – both of which, he did for the Rams last season.
Johnson appeared in all 16 games, making eleven starts on the year. He notched 71 tackles (53 solo), had 11 passes defensed, and an interception on the season.
Given Oakland’s struggles in the secondary, with David Amerson missing most of the year – and being atrocious when he was on it – as well as the dumpster fire that’s been Sean Smith‘s tenure in the East Bay, not to mention the absolute train wreck that was Reggie Nelson, the Raiders could have used a guy like Johnson in the defensive backfield.