The 2013 NFL Draft transformed 32 NFL rosters. Around The League will examine the aftershocks in our Draft Fallout series. Next up: The Oakland Raiders
The Big Question: Did the Raiders find four starters?
I wrote before the draft that GM Reggie McKenzie might need a home run draft to keep his job. Finding three starters would be a start. No. 12 overall pick D.J. Hayden immediately will be expected to be the best cornerback on the team. It was a bold pick, but McKenzie did well to pick up an extra high second-round pick after trading down from No. 3.
That second-rounder turned into Menelik Watson, who should be the favorite to start at right tackle. The first two picks were swings for the fences. Third-round linebacker Sio Moore was more of a "double," according to NFL Network's Mike Mayock. He's a good bet to start over Nick Roach or Kaluka Maiva at some point this season.
It sounds crazy, but sixth-round picks Nick Kasa and Mychal Rivera will have every chance to start by the end of the year at tight end. Perhaps this is "best case scenario" thinking, but it feels realistic. Four starters would qualify as a home run for McKenzie.
Three Takeaways
- Fourth-round quarterback Tyler Wilson should start games for the Raiders at some point, but not in 2013. It's hard to see see Matt Flynn or Terrelle Pryor as a long-term solution. As the first quarterback drafted during the McKenzie Era in Oakland, Wilson should get a chance eventually to start.
- Fantasy folks should keep an eye on sixth-round pick Latvius Murray, if only because there's such a clear path to carries with the Raiders once Darren McFadden gets injured.
- Hayden and Watson were bold picks. It took some stones for McKenzie to zero in on Hayden as "his guy" so high in the draft. McKenzie did not draft like a man worried about his job.
