Oakland Raiders: Re-Drafting the 2017 class using the power of hindsight

Round 5 (168) – Marquel Lee

In round five last year, McKenzie made his seemingly annual late round move to bring in a one-dimensional, mostly ineffective linebacker. Though, to be fair, Cory James (the 2016 sixth round pick) did seem to improve against the run last year.

In 2017 though, it was Wake Forest’s Marquel Lee in the fifth-round. The belief was that at six-foot-three, 240 pounds, Lee had the length, power, and athleticism to man the middle of Oakland’s defense.

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Yeah, didn’t work out that way. Though he appeared in 13 games for the Raiders, making six starts, Lee was largely ineffective. He was better against the run than the pass, but had just 22 total tackles (15 solo).

Lee, like James, is not a three-down linebacker. He was a liability against the run and atrocious against the pass. Maybe Gruden and his staff can get something out of him that Del Rio and his staff couldn’t. But, we’re not holding our breath.

Swapping out this fifth-round pick – number one hundred and sixty-eight overall – is more or less, a no-brainer.

Given the fact that McKenzie was willing to roll the dice with his first round pick and take Conley, despite a still open police investigation against him, taking former Florida Gator Caleb Brantley (Rd. 6, one hundred eighty-fifth overall, Cleveland) should have been an easy call for him to make.

The charges against Brantley – like the charges against Conley – were ultimately dismissed, and the Cleveland Browns got themselves a heck of a steal.

At six-foot-three, 307 pounds, Brantley takes up a lot of space on the interior of that defensive line. But, he’s got length, power, and quickness. In 12 appearances for Cleveland, with just one start, Brantley had 18 total tackles (12 solo), a fumble recovery, and two sacks – or, you know, one and a half more sacks than Ellis has tallied in his four-year career.

With Justin Ellis proving ineffective over his four years in Oakland and quite possibly not coming back in 2018, the Raiders are a little thin along the interior of that defensive line. A big, physical body like Brantley could have helped fill that hole and make for a smoother transition if the team, as seems likely, allows Ellis to walk as a free agent.