2015 Offseason Preview: Oakland Raiders

As part of the offseason series, Mike Mendez wanted to know what the Oakland Raiders will be doing when the NFL Draft comes around April 30th.

2015 OAKLAND RAIDERS OFFSEASON PREVIEW


The Raiders finished a typical season posting a 3-13 record, and fired head coach Dennis Allen. Stints with running backs Maurice Jones-Drew (retirement) and Darren McFadden (signed with Dallas) came to and end, and the Raiders still sit at the bottom of the AFC West standings. Enter seasoned coach Jack Del Rio to man the ship, and a young talented roster lead by second-year quarterback
Derek Carr and Rookie of the Year runner up Khalil Mack. The Raiders have a lot of talent on their roster, but will look to keep improving with the class of rookies coming into the NFL in 2015.

Key Departures- DL Antonio Smith (signed DEN); WR Denarius Moore (signed CIN); C Setfan Wisnewski (free-agent); QB Matt Schaub (signed BAL); S Tyvon Branch (signed KC); RB Darren McFadden (signed DAL); RB Maurice Jones-Drew (retired)

Key Additions- WR Michael Crabtree; RB Roy Helu; LB Malcolm Smith; S Nate Allen; LB Curtis Lofton.


Raiders on Draft Day-

The Raiders are a tricky team to make any predictions for, due to the amount of talent on their roster. The lack of success may be due to playing in a stacked division, and the amount of young skilled players who haven't been in a winning locker room. They have some depth to their roster, and seem to only be a few pieces away form contending.

Oakland owns the fourth pick in the draft, and is in position to take the best available player. Assuming the draft plays out the way i predict in previous mocks, the Raiders will be looking at

Kevin White, or Amari Cooper (whom i believe would be the two best prospects receivers in the draft). Adding a pass-rusher seems unlikely since the Raiders have a cornerstone player in Khalil Mack. As of now, Kevin White should be the target here due to his sky-rocketing stock since the draft.

Outside of the first round, another area the Raiders should look to address is their secondary. D.J. Hayden, Nate Allen and Charles Woodson are good players, but adding young depth to the secondary seems to be a high priority. Looking into day three of the draft, a player like Senquez Golson (Mississippi) should be available in the third round. He is a little undersized, but should be a solid slot corner in the NFL. Another target they may consider is Ifo
Ekpre-Olomu (Oregon). He may be one of the biggest steals of the draft, considering he was a potential first-round pick before he got injured. Safeties Ladarius Gunter and Cody Prewett could be late draft additions that have potential to develop into solid starters.

Another position that Oakland could add depth to late in the draft could be linebacker. They have a solid group of starters, but lack viable talent in the event that a player is injured. Khalil Mack, Malcolm Smith and Curtis Lofton will need someone behind them if the Raiders want to solidify their defense. Taiwan Jones (Michigan State), could be a good addition on day three, and could help solidify the run defense. Jordan Hicks (Texas) and Jake Ryan (Michigan) could be brought in towards the end of the draft to help anchor a pass rush.

Derek Carr needs to keep progressing and taking the right steps in the league in order to compete in the division. Jack Del Rio and his coaching staff need to unleash the full potential of Latavius Murray and the running game to keep heat off of Carr, and must also get the full potential out of his defense
to stop the high powered offenses of San Diego and Denver. A successful draft could mean a turn in the tides of the AFC West, and it will all start with pick number four.