As it’s NFL Draft Eve, we’ll soon get our answers. Some might say #4, where the Oakland Raiders pick, is where this Draft actually starts. We know Jameis Winston is locked in at #1, Marcus Mariota at #2, and most people seem to believe Dante Fowler will stay at home at get picked by Jacksonville at #3.
There’s a chance Fowler will be there for the Raiders at #4, but I wouldn’t bet on it. It’s okay that, because Oaktown seemingly can’t lose with Amari Cooper or Leonard Williams. The former was the best player in the best conference in college football last year. The latter is the best overall player available in this draft.
If you believe in the “drafting for needs” philosophy, then they should go wide receiver. Amari Cooper is the better choice in my opinion, but Kevin White isn’t a bad pick either. WR is the deepest position in this draft. 2015 is the year to take a wide-out, especially to pair him with him Derek Carr, and you can really see a foundation start to develop on offense. As we pointed out before, the Oakland Raiders had a phenomenal 2014 draft, and building on that this year would move them into being competitive.
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Over the course of the NFL Draft talking season, there have been about 16, 17, 18 NFL Draft media conference calls, and by this point, all the soundbites pretty much run together. The point is that all the big Draftniks (Mel Kiper Jr., Todd McShay, Mike Mayock) they all seem to believe than the Oakland Raiders could be on to something.
The NFL punditocracy doesn’t feel that Oakland is going to contend for the playoffs this year, but they can see them making a move in 2016; should things pan out this year. Obviously, this draft is going to be huge for that.
Here’s what Fox Sports has the Raiders doing in their mock draft:
If the pick isn’t Cooper, then it should be Leonard Williams, the versatile DL out of USC. He could have the same positive affect on Khalil Mack that Cooper might have on Carr. Again it appears that the Oakland Raiders might really be on to something here, and some of the NFL talking heads also seem to believe that’s true.
Take a look at my 2015 NFL mock draft and my 2016 NFL mock draft
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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