Raiders stick to defense with their two picks.

Safety, DT selected in draft; next up could be linebacker

ALAMEDA — The Raiders still haven’t added a linebacker, but they did take two more defensive players when the NFL draft resumed Friday.

Connecticut safety Obi Melifonwu came off the board in the second round at No. 56 overall before they grabbed a Sacramento area native in UCLA defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes.

Add those to Thursday’s first-round pick, Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley, and the Raiders think they’ve at least added depth to a defense that needs plenty of work.

“We’re looking for vastly improved play out of our defense and all three of these guys are going to get an opportunity to compete and create their role,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said.

Inside linebacker remains the team’s biggest need and one they’d seem likely to address with one of their five picks in Saturday’s fourth through seventh rounds.

Melifonwu, a 6-foot3, 217-pound native of London, England, gives the Raiders a versatile, rangy safety and finally someone who they hope can solve their woes defending tight ends.

“It’s no secret we’ve struggled for the last couple of years covering the opponent’s tight ends,” Del Rio said. “We think this is a guy who can help, with his length, match up against some of the bigger tight ends, some of the better tight ends and we’ll put him right in the mix.”

Melifonwu did some work at the Senior Bowl as a cornerback in addition to playing safety and so he feels capable of playing all over the Raiders’ defensive backfield. And yes, he feels good about his ability to cover tight ends.

“I feel like I’m a solid cover guy, especially with tight ends,” Melifonwu said on a conference call. “I feel like the majority of tight ends I go up against, I’m going to be faster than them and really be able to really them.”

Del Rio said Melifonwu, who moved to the United State at age three, will have a chance to compete with incumbent starters Reggie Nelson and Karl Joseph for a starting safety job.

“I feel as though I can be an every down defensive back,” said Melifonwu, who said one of the players he models his game after is Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor.

In Vanderdoes, the Raiders are getting a player subject to mixed reviews. A red-hot fivestar prospect out of Placer High in Auburn, Vanderdoes looked like a future star two years into his UCLA career.

But a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the season opener in 2015 wiped out his junior season and he was out of shape and unproductive as a senior.

“His film is inconsistent, honestly,” Del Rio said. “Some is better than other. I just talked to him just a little while ago and said, ‘We’re looking for the high energy guy. The motivated guy.’”

Vanderdoes blamed part of his senior year struggles on an ankle he said he sprained three times. He got as high as 340 pounds before trimming down to 302 for the combine.

“I’ve always been a motivated kid,” Vanderdoes said. “This season, my weight just got out of hand. That’s the way it was. I played on a high ankle sprain this season that I got rolled up on and I fought through with my team. I never once thought about quitting or anything like that, so I kept going and kept playing and doing what’s best because I love football. I missed a whole year of football in 2015 and that made me really realize how much I love this game.”

Vanderdoes said he’s 100 percent healthy from the 2015 ACL injury has no doubt the Raiders will get the high-energy player they are seeking.

“With the combine (and) the Senior Bowl, I got my explosiveness back,” Vanderdoes said. “I got my speed back, my athleticism back. I’m definitely at the top of my shape right now. I’m ready to get back to work and show them the player they saw on the film and the player they wanted to draft and I’m also looking to turn even more heads.”

While the draft is n still the first thing on the Raiders mind, Del Rio finally had a chance to chat about his new running back Marshawn Lynch.

“Authentic passion is what I see,” Del Rio said. “He’s a homegrown guy. He’s extremely excited about joining this team and we’re excited to have him. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody else more excited and pleased to be joining a team — my team, our team.”

Del Rio, a Hayward native, noted that he wished he could’ve done what Lynch is doing by capping off his career with the Raiders. His final NFL season was 1995, the first year the Raiders played back in Oakland after the relocation from Los Angeles.