The final day of the 2017 NFL Draft has concluded. At this point, teams draft for depth, special teams, or if they get lucky, they might find a potential steal in the long run. I'll provide my research on the Raiders' draft picks in the last four rounds and give my concluding thoughts in evaluating the overall draft.
Round 4 - Pick 129: David Sharpe, OL, FloridaThe Raiders decided to take a break from defensive draft picks and give a little love for offense. There is nothing wrong with having too many big bodies to stack up that O-line depth. The thing that is striking about David Sharpe, his pro comparison, Vadal Alexander. Sharpe is a mountain of a man, weighing at 343 pounds. He was a solid left tackle at Florida, protecting Jack Del Rio's son, Luke, who's the Gators' quarterback. He's everything that the Raiders value in their O-line. They want big, physical linemen that can push people around. And like Vadal Alexander, he's not too quick footed. More linemen for Mike Tice to coach to full potential. From his draft profile, he was slated to be a 2nd-3rd rounder. Nice steal from Reggie McKenzie in the 4th round to keep fortifying that "Carr Insurance."
We've been clamoring for more help at the linebacker position and the Raiders addressed that in the 5th round. This is an ongoing trend for Reggie McKenzie and the Raiders. They get their linebackers in the later rounds. There's not a lot of encouraging reports that he could be the "Mike" that the Raiders need. He's a big linebacker, but he doesn't have the athleticism to cover sideline-to-sideline. His reaction time is late in passing situations. He excels more in playing the run based on his highlights, which most scouting reports pointed out when evaluating his game. Marquel Lee is going to be another "work-in-progress" for the Raiders. You can bet there will be serious competition between Marquel Lee, Ben Heeney (although Heeney is probably the odd-man out), and Cory James to fill that Inside Linebacker position.
Round 7 - Pick 221 (Trade down with Arizona Cardinals): Shalom Luani, S, Washington StateNow, this is a name that I've come across Raider Nation forums the past few weeks. This guy made a name for himself as a football (soccer) star for American Samoa. For a player whose first name means "peace," he plays the game the way it should be, aggressive and violent. Luani is a big hitter at the Safety position. It was like I was seeing a reflection of Karl Joseph when I saw Luani's highlights for the first time. Great selection to pretty much solidify back end of the secondary for the future.
Round 7 - Pick 231 (Trade down with Arizona Cardinals): Jylan Ware, OL, Alabama StateYou can never have too many big bodies on the Offensive Line. The Raiders drafted a big, athletic offensive tackle here with their second 7th round pick acquired in a trade with the Cardinals. Ware is very quick footed according to his draft profile. He has one trait that Mike Tice values: quick footed linemen. He just needs to put on a little more weight as he weighs at 295 pounds. Most of the Raiders' big, powerful linemen stand at 300 lbs or more. Solid depth for days at the Offensive Line position.
Round 7 - Pick 242: Elijah Hood, RB, North Carolina
From the same GM that drafted Latavius Murray at Pick 181 overall in 2013, comes this sequel. When I looked at this guy's highlights, he's eerily similar to Tay Train. He's a big back who has adequate speed and acceleration. Hood stands at 6'0 while Murray has a 6'3 frame. There's a 3 inch difference between the two. The thing that stood out about his highlight tape is that he lowers his head and shoulders to absorb the contact. Murray could not do that and is easily taken down because of that very reason. He has a strength in pass protection. Elijah Hood will make us forget about Murray as a back with a nose for the first down/touchdown line and picking up blitzes for Carr. He can be a good long-term stash with Marshawn Lynch being a stop gap RB.
Round 7 - Pick 244: Treyvon Hester, DT, Toledo
The Raiders addressed more help at the DT position. Treyvon Hester is a rotational piece to spare Justin Ellis, Darius Latham, and Eddie Vanderdoes. He's another run stuffing DT. His tape against Temple flashed his potential as a DT who can provide some push in the pocket and shed blocks from offensive linemen.
Conclusion
Overall, the draft strategy is what you'd expect from Reggie McKenzie and the Oakland Raiders. They focused most of their draft picks on defense. Gareon Conley and Obi Melifonwu revamps the secondary. We might be looking at a solid, young secondary corps consisting Gareon Conley and Obi Melifonwu to pair with and 2nd year man Karl Joseph and veteran, David Amerson. I liked the Shalom Luani pick in the 7th round to solidify depth at the Safety position. They get a running back late again, selecting Elijah Hood. He should fill in Latavius Murray's shoes rather quickly and he'll get the benefit of a doubt being mentored by Beast Mode. Eddie Vanderdoes in the 3rd and Trevon Hester in the 7th round addresses voids at the DT position left behind by Dan Williams and Stacy McGee. David Sharpe and Jylan Ware fortify an already loaded elite Offensive Line. Marquel Lee adds more competition to the linebackers corps. Reggie McKenzie did another solid job putting this draft together and addressed 90% of the key defensive deficiencies. I personally would've liked a long-term Middle Linebacker that can cover Tight Ends, but we'll probably see the Raiders more in Nickel packages as Obi Melifonwu is capable of covering Tight Ends with his size and athleticism. We know Gareon Conley is under ongoing investigation of a supposed sexual assault case. But, he's complying with Police and he took a polygraph test and passed. After seeing his highlights, Conley should be a big time upgrade over D.J. Hayden. With this, Reggie addressed the secondary and he beefed up the O-line and D-line with more quality depth.
Grade: B
