Oakland Raiders may do something unexpected in first round of the Draft

The Oakland Raiders head into the Draft with a plethora of needs, but with most eyes locked on a certain Georgia star, could Team Gruden do something unexpected?

As Oakland Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie and HC Jon Gruden gear up for the Scouting Combine and the Draft, they have a myriad of issues to address – on both sides of the ball. Though, the far more pressing needs seem to be defensive.

The Raiders need help at every level of their defense – defensive tackle, edge rusher, linebacker, cornerback and safety. Other than that though, they’re in good shape.

Now, they do have some nice pieces to build around – Khalil Mack, of course, being the centerpiece. Karl Joseph is a good, young, thumper on the back line of that defense, and Gareon Conley showed flashes last season (at times – when he was healthy, which wasn’t all that often) of the kind of player he could be.

Developing young players like Cory James, Nicholas Morrow, Eddie Vanderdoes, and Marquel Lee, among others, further, would help flesh out the defense. Re-signing NaVorro Bowman and Denico Autry – and not cutting ties with Bruce Irvin – would certainly help the cause.

While they also have some nice role players, the fact remains – this is a defense in dire need of some help. In dire need of some impact players.

As we approach the Draft, most people seem to think it’s a given that Gruden and McKenzie are locked in on Georgia’s Roquan Smith at either nine or ten – should he still be there, of course.

The pairing makes sense. Oakland’s long standing need for a three-down linebacker who’s solid and explosive in both run and pass coverage is well documented. And Smith, the Consensus All-American and Butkus Award winner, had a tremendous year for the Bulldogs.

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His sideline-to-sideline speed, power, and strength are traits this Raiders team needs in a linebacker – and has needed for a few years (at least) now.

All of the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit, the stars seem like they’re aligning, and if everything plays out like it looks like it’s going to play out in the picks ahead of them in the first round (never a guarantee, of course), Oakland should be in line to take Smith, thereby plugging a very solid piece into the middle of the defense for some years to come.

Seems simple enough, right? Seems like it’s pretty much a lock that Smith will be a Raider this coming year, doesn’t it?

Yeah, well, let’s pump the brakes on that for a minute.

It may very well still come to pass that Gruden and McKenzie hand in a Draft card with Smith’s name on it. Very possible. But, it’s also just as possible that they could deke us all and head in another direction.

We all know McKenzie’s disdain for taking linebackers at the top of the Draft, preferring to find talent in the later rounds or combing through the ranks of the UDFA’s. It’s a philosophy that’s shared by new defensive coordinator Paul Guenther.

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So, knowing they’re gunshy about taking linebackers early, where might they choose to spend that valuable first round capital?

To hear Guenther – who isn’t exactly known as a blitz-happy guy – tell it, his priority is getting Mack into more one-on-one situations, which he says is essentially, “like calling a blitz.” Which means, they very well could be looking to surround Mack with some help who can free him up and get him into more of those one-on-one situations.

Which, of course, means they very well could be targeting University of Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea.

Guenther wants a Geno Atkins type of player, who can get a solid push up the middle, is good against the run, will demand double teams, is explosive, and provide solid pressure on the quarterback. Above all, he wants athleticism and versatility in his players.

And looking down the list, Vea would seem to tick off all of those boxes – and more.

Over his time at Washington, he’s played in multiple fronts, moving from nose, to defensive tackle, to defensive end – and he’s played all of those positions at an extremely high level. He’s generally considered the top rated defensive tackle in the Draft, but with so many teams jockeying for position to take a quarterback or a corner, Vea could very well be on the board when the Raiders pick at number nine or ten – depending on how the coin flip breaks.

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At six-foot-five, 332 pounds, and the ability to run the 40 in the low fives, Vea has drawn favorable comparisons to the likes of Haloti Ngata, Dontari Poe, and Danny Shelton – with the caveat, that he’s far more athletic than all of them.

There is, of course, a lot of debate and skepticism about the Raiders using a top-ten pick on a defensive tackle. Many aren’t convinced Vea will be as good as Ngata has been over his career – or exceed him, as many believe him capable of.

But, to play Devil’s Advocate, it makes a certain amount of sense – especially if the Raiders can get Bowman back into the fold. If they can re-sign Bowman, the thinking of Gruden and McKenzie will likely be that they have the middle of the defense locked down for another year – maybe two – which will free them up to address other areas of need.

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And make no mistake, defensive tackle is a definite area of need. With Justin Ellis providing next to nothing in the way of an interior push and even less in terms of pressuring the quarterback, combined with the lack of, well, anything much from last year’s third-round pick Eddie Vanderdoes, Oakland desperately needs a big, athletic body on the interior of that defensive line that can play the run as well as help collapse the pocket.

And, oh yeah, they need somebody along that interior who can draw some of the attention away from Mack, freeing him up – and by extension, Irvin – to do their thing. A dominant presence on the interior, one who is solid againt the run, will also indirectly benefit Bowman, who might not take the relentless pounding if the defensive line can actually stop ballcarriers from getting to that second level.

A solid push up the middle, freeing Mack and Irvin to come off the edges – and hey, maybe we could even have a Mario Edwards Jr. sighting if that happened – would benefit the defense as a whole in a myriad of ways.

Pressure has got to start up front. It’s a philosophy that Guenther endorses. He expects the interior of his line to get a good push up the gut and for guys to fly off the edge. Pressure is the name of Guenther’s game, and as of the moment, the Raiders don’t have much along that interior who can play it.

But, adding a big, mobile, athletic body like Vea to that line could pay big dividends for every level of the defense.

Not saying it’s a sure thing. Not saying it’s not. They very well could do the expected and pull the trigger on Smith if he’s there when they’re on the clock.

But, it’s very, very likely that for Gruden and McKenzie, Vea is very much in play as a first-round pick.