Why the Raiders shouldn't go after OL help with the seventh pick
The Las Vegas Raiders have a ton of needs before going into the 2023 season. Luckily, they have plenty of picks in the drafts to try and build for the future – 12 total picks to be exact, and five before pick 110. But, there is a perception out there, mainly because the Raiders themselves […]
The Las Vegas Raiders have a ton of needs before going into the 2023 season. Luckily, they have plenty of picks in the drafts to try and build for the future – 12 total picks to be exact, and five before pick 110.
But, there is a perception out there, mainly because the Raiders themselves said they wouldn't rule it out, that they may take a quarterback with their seventh pick. Obviously, we all want them to go after defense, because, let's face it, it needs severe help.
But, other media people and fans think the Raiders should go after offensive line help, that way they can protect Jimmy Garoppolo and give him time to throw to his new weapons.
But, I don't think they should go after offensive line help with that pick, and here is why:
The top two offensive linemen in this draft are Peter Skoronski from Northwestern, and Paris Johnson from Ohio State. Instead, they should go after defense, like all of us have been saying. They have a need at every position on defense, just some more than others. Luckily for the Raiders, this draft is deep at those defensive positions.
It isn't incredibly deep at offensive line, but they don't need as much help in that department as we may think.
This offensive line started to round things out at the end of the year and actually started to look good. They got the hang of things down and were protecting Derek Carr much better later in the year than they were earlier in the year.
I mean, they started pretty rough, as they allowed six sacks in their first game against the Chargers. But, they started to learn the system, and with a full year under their belt, they could be even better next season as the same group comes in.
Not to mention Dylan Parham is going into his second season, and will only get better.
That's not me saying they shouldn't go after offensive line at all, that's me saying they shouldn't go after offensive linemen in the first round.
They need too much defensive help, and their offensive line isn't a bad one, it's just not an elite one.
