HENDERSON, Nevada — With the #7 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders selected…
defense. Just he have Being a defensive player. right?
For the purposes of this exercise, sure. Sure enough, Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler is using a strategy to address specific needs in free agency while wanting to select the best player available from Las Vegas’ 12 draft picks. The Raiders signed expected defensive players in safety Marcus Epps and linebacker Robert Spillane in the first wave of free agency, as well as cornerbacks Brandon Faison, David Long Jr. and Duke Shelley. The Raiders also re-signed defensive tackle Jerry Tillery, a pickup late in the season.
But an overall defense that ranked 28th last season needs to draft a starter or three on that side of the ball, as well as reinforcements, so offenses should weigh in there in the draft.
So, a look at three defensive combinations the Raiders can have potentially The goal early in the draft, after last week’s look at potential offensive targets…
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A franchise that once boasted the likes of Willie Brown, Lester Hayes, Mike Haynes, Terry McDaniel, Charles Woodson and Nnamdi Asomugha on the outside has sorely missed out on players like Fabian Washington, DJ Hayden, Jaron Conley and Damon Arnett in the first round over the past two decades. Ouch.
But if the Raiders are in seventh place, one — if not both — of the top two central bankers in the draft could be in Oregon. Christian Gonzalez and Illinois Devon Witherspoon.
So, what direction will the Raiders head in if they turn back early? any direction He should are they turning?
Gonzalez, at 6-foot-1, 197 pounds, has a smooth skill set that recalls a lot of the less physical Asomugha, while Witherspoon, at 5-11½, 181 pounds, is the “most complete” cornerback in the draft, per ESPN’s first NFL draft analyst Todd Macchie.
“He’s a ball hawk, he’s really good at covering…he’s very physical,” McShea said of Witherspoon. “The NFL, with so many screen games and teams spread out, you have to be able to handle the linebacker position. Where Witherspoon’s strength is, that’s the area Gonzalez has to improve. Great forward, he’s not so great at run support… But he’s 6-1, nearly 200 lbs…
Witherspoon is a bit more complete, but if you’re looking for the best coverage corner to take your No. 1 receiver, Gonzales will be the guy for you.
Consider: Gonzalez ran the 40-yard dash of 4.38 seconds on the combine, had a vertical jump of 41.5 inches and a broad jump of 11-1.
Meanwhile, Witherspoon allowed just a 25.3 passer rating versus last season and hit a 4.4 40 on his pro day.
Welcome to the AFC West, where the Raiders take on Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson twice a year each.
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Sure, Alabama hasty edge Will Anderson Jr. He wouldn’t still be there at No. 7, would he? Same with the Texas Tech defensive end Terry Wilson. The Raiders insist they wouldn’t shy away from making a – look at you, Max Crosby – stronger, so why not make a move on either if they’re available. Anderson had 34.5 sacks in three seasons with the Crimson Tide, while Wilson thrived with the Red Raiders after transferring from Texas A&M.
And while the Raiders have brought back Tillery, whose late-season arrival seemed to spark Chandler Jones, and also brought back Bilal Nichols, they need a stuffed-in presence who can also collapse the pocket. But less than two years after the fatal accident caused by Henry Roggs, will insane Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who was arrested in the matter for reckless driving and racing, have to drop to seventh?
“He was the best player in college football, when he was healthy,” Mel Kepper Jr., a senior NFL analyst at ESPN, called the 6-3, 314-pound Carter a “dominant inside presence” who should To keep his talent alone. in the top eight of the draft.
Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said the team would do due diligence on Carter.
“The important thing is really doing our job and really figuring everything out,” McDaniels said at the owners’ meetings. “There are so many things that can be said or speculated about that you have to be careful about catching someone.
“If we don’t feel safe to recruit someone, we’ll just take them off the board and we won’t even include them.” [him as] part of our operation.”
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The Raiders’ base defense is basically a nickel, and the must-have starting linebackers are Spillane and Divine Deablo. Las Vegas needs a deep center fielder, but there aren’t many linebackers in the draft with first-round scores, let alone in the top seven.
And it’s much more feasible for the Raiders, who have 12 draft picks, to trade until the end of the first round to take the Tennessee quarterback. Hendon Hooker.
Still, the Raiders are still linebackers. It’s just that there isn’t enough value to take one early.
“The situation in general, I don’t want to say it’s devalued, but you don’t see a lot of picks in the first round,” McShee said. “And usually when you do, it’s later in the first.”
Among the top four rated LBs – Arkansas’ Drew Sandersyeah Jack CampbellClemson Trenton Simpson and Washington State Diane Henley – McShay sees 6-4, 235-pound Sanders as the most advanced (Sanders and Simpson draft outside LBs, while Campbell and Henley look inside LBs).
“He’s not elite,” McShea said of Sanders, “but he has the attributes to improve and provide value when passing.” “It’s a really good lane.”