More questions than stars
It’s impossible to grade a draft a day after. Well, not impossible, because everybody does it. It’s just not very smart.
Take the Raiders’ haul. They might not have picked any walkin-the-door difference makers, but general manager Reggie McKenzie is happy with a group of players with upside. And speed.
Oakland’s first two picks, Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley and Connecticut safety Obi Melifonwu, are both able to close ground in what has been a generous defense in head coach Jack Del Rio’s first two seasons.
“You have to have speed to
play the game the way it’s going now,” McKenzie said. “You have to be able to play in space. You have to be able to match up. We took all of that into consideration when we brought these players in.
“Obi and Conley, both of those guys have great range, speed, very athletic. So, they make tackles in space. That’s one of the things that we looked at. Make sure short-to-medium plays don’t turn into big plays. I think they will help in that scenario.”
Melifonwu (6-foot-4, 207 pounds) is a little raw. He can play safety, some linebacker and maybe even cornerback, and there is one thing he should and is expected to do right away: cover tight ends.
The Raiders have had trouble doing that, and if they can take one thing away from this draft, that’s a pretty good one.
Melifonwu is a pretty exciting pick for the second round, because he showed enough things on game video, but there is a sense he is only scratching the surface.
“I think he can do a lot of different things,” Del Rio said. “He’s very gifted athletically. The tape is good . ... He’s played on tight ends. He’s played on receivers. He’s been in the back . ... Kind of done a little bit of everything.”
Conley, the Raiders hope, comes as advertised: good in press coverage with the ability to jump routes and make plays. He will compete with starters Sean Smith and David Amerson, but Oakland is probably banking on him taking one of their jobs, likely Smith’s, in 2018.
Conley was a team leader at Ohio State, yet ran into some trouble off the field in the past month. He is accused of rape and will meet with Cleveland police Monday, but the Raiders are so confident that no charges will be pressed that they drafted him in the first round.
McKenzie is essentially staking his reputation on Conley being cleared.
All told, the Raiders drafted six defensive players this past weekend, with two coming in the lottery-ticket seventh round. Third-round defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes and fifth-round middle linebacker Marquel Lee are expected to compete for playing time, and maybe even starting jobs, at two of Oakland’s worst position groups.
Vanderdoes, who’s 6-3, was bad at UCLA last year, coming off knee surgery and ballooning to 340 pounds. But he has since lost 40 pounds and looks to be the powerful player he was coming out of high school in Auburn (Placer County). He was the No. 1-rated defensive tackle in the country then, and played well his first two years with the Bruins.
“A really interesting selection coming off an ACL two years ago,” NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock said. “I didn’t think he played really well at all last year; he was heavy, out of shape and couldn’t finish plays. All of a sudden at the Senior Bowl, there’s quickness and explosion.”
Lee didn’t have a lot of great tape at Wake Forest, but he has the size and potential to be a two-down middle linebacker and will compete with freeagent signee Jelani Jenkins and returnees Ben Heeney and Cory James. Neiron Ball, who flashed potential in 2015, is still on the roster after two knee surgeries, but the Raiders gave away his jersey number, which is not a good sign for him.
“Neiron is still going through rehab,” McKenzie said. “So, it depends on how he feels physically.”
And if McKenzie doesn’t like what he sees, he might give Perry Riley Jr. a call again. Riley, 29, started 11 games inside last year and is leaning toward retiring after the Raiders and he weren’t that close on a new contract.
“We’ll have the rookie minicamp (Friday), and then we’ll have everybody together,” McKenzie said. “If we need to add someone else, we will. No, I never close the door until it’s time to get the roster together.”
He can’t close the door on a 26th-ranked defense that was last in the league in sacks. An undrafted player could make a difference. Or, even better, one of the men who got the call Thursday, Friday or Saturday that he’s been dreaming about all his life.