RAIDERS Several options for Oakland with No. 24 pick
Stay true to our board. It sounds good, but what does it really mean when teams say that about the NFL draft?
After all, general managers and scouts write players’ names on the team’s draft board, so obviously their favorites are going to be ranked higher than players who might have produced more or had a better pro day.
The Raiders could use a really good inside linebacker, but they could look at their board and decide to wait rather than take one with the 24th overall pick Thursday night. Or what if Alabama’s Reuben Foster, Temple’s Haason Reddick and Florida’s Jarrad Davis are all gone?
Who’s the next “best player available”? There are two or three interesting possibilities, as Oakland needs help at every level of its defense.
If the draft went solely on measurements, Michigan State defensive tackle Malik McDowell would be a top-10 pick. He stands 6-foot-6, 295 pounds with 35-inch arms, 10.5-inch hands, good feet, and had some really impressive games against top opponents.
McDowell also has some truly awful games on video and had only 1.5 sacks in nine games last season, after a much better 2015 season. One scout called his degree of laziness “stunning.” McDowell did not fare well at interviews at the NFL combine, according to personnel executives, and some questioned whether he really likes football.
(That sound you heard was Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. passing out. He really loves players who love ball.)
But here’s the deal: McDowell is quite the piece of clay with which to work, one who already has the skill to beat one-on-one blocks and get inside pressure on the quarterback.
“He has a chance to be a dominant player in our league. I mean dominant,” an NFC North scout told NFL.com. “It hasn’t turned on for him all the way yet but if it does, he could be like Mario Williams. He’s just a little lazy, and I worry about whether he is going to be a self-starter.”
Higher in the draft, McDowell is the type of player who could get a GM in trouble. But at 24, it’s hard to argue that he isn’t the best player on the board.
“I think he might be the most talented interior defensive lineman,” ESPN analyst Todd McShay said. “Some questions about the work ethic and consistency. From a skills standpoint, I think he can become a highly disruptive player.”
Washington’s Kevin King, meanwhile, could be the man at 24 if Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie goes for a defensive back. The 6-3 Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland alum has very good ball skills, ran a 4.43 40-yard dash and posted a 39.5-inch vertical jump at the combine.
He used to play safety, and his college coaches say he can play slot cornerback in the NFL as well as outside. King patterns his game after another 6-4 corner, Seattle’s Richard Sherman.
Unlike McDowell, King made a good impression in interviews — the Raiders met with him twice.
King might be too big to play slot anymore, but there is a corner on the first-round board who scouts think can be plugged in right away against receivers lined up inside.
USC’s Adoree’ Jackson is only 5-10, 186 pounds but has a nose for the ball, as scouts love to say. In fact, he has hands for the ball, too, as he also started one game at receiver for the Trojans, the first time a player started both ways for USC since the 1960s.