Raiders draft review: Blocking a priority, character not so much

UCLA's Kolton Miller celebrates with fans after being selected by the Oakland Raiders during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 26, 2018, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

UCLA's Kolton Miller, center, celebrates with Oakland Raiders fans after being selected by the team during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 26, 2018, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

There was a time when the NFL didn’t allow cameras inside teams’ draft rooms and we all imagined it to be like Kevin Costner’s chaotic war room in the dire film “Draft Day.”

That wasn’t the case this year with NFL Network providing behind-the-scenes access from 22 draft rooms. We saw how the first-round swap between the Raiders and the Cardinals went down.

Let’s just say Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie doesn’t drive a hard bargain, at least not for this trade.

“Buckle your seat belt here,” Cardinals president Michael Bidwill says as general manager Steve Keim picks up the phone to speak with McKenzie.

Seat belts weren’t needed for this bargaining. Keim didn’t leave the driveway.

You hear Keim offer McKenzie the 15th, 79th (third round) and 152nd (fifth round) picks for the Raiders’ No. 10, which eventually turned into UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen.

You don’t hear what McKenzie said, but it was probably a one-word response like “sure.” Keim then looks up as if his eyes were telling Bidwill, “I can’t believe he accepted this.”

“You’d do it?” Keim asked again. “OK, Reg, appreciate you.”

Keim was probably expecting McKenzie to squeeze out a second-rounder from the exchange. The Packers duped the Saints into handing them a 2019 first-round pick to move up from No. 27 to 14th.

Turned out, McKenzie had a plan and all he needed was an extra third-rounder to execute it. He flipped the 79th pick to the Steelers for speedy wideout Martavis Bryant.

You could hear the groans from Raider Nation disappear when news broke of the Bryant trade.

Minutes before the addition of Bryant, Raiders fans weren’t happy with the first-round selection of UCLA offensive tackle Kolton Miller.

With so many needs on defense and safety Derwin James and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds available, the Raiders settled for maybe the second-best tackle in a class of tackles many draft experts were down on.

Yes, protecting quarterback Derek Carr and being able to provide holes for the running game are always important. The main reason the Raiders ended their playoff drought in 2016 was because they had arguably the NFL’s best offensive line.

But when your interior offensive line is still the best in football, you can worry about the right tackle opening in a later round. When your defense didn’t record an interception until Nov. 26 of last season, shouldn’t it be defense first?

Coming away with Miller and Bryant after Day 1 isn’t the end of the world, though.

The Raiders are going to be fun on offense with Carr throwing to Amari Cooper, Jordy Nelson and Bryant behind a stacked offensive line.

And, who knows, maybe Miller turns out to be the left tackle of the future to take over for Donald Penn, who just turned 35. He has the size and athleticism, but he’s going to need time to grow. I just don’t trust offensive line coach Tom Cable to be the guy to groom Miller.

Cable operated probably the worst offensive line of the past few seasons in Seattle. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is probably happy to see him go.

Apparently Raiders coach Jon Gruden didn’t care what Cable did in Seattle. He gave him another offensive tackle in North Carolina AT&T’s Brandon Parker to open the third round Friday.

Carr will be well protected in 2018 and for years to come, but isn’t Khalil Mack a franchise player, too?

Mack, who is looking for a massive new deal, can’t be happy seeing Von Miller treated like priority in Denver and now partnered with Bradley Chubb.

The Raiders did add defensive tackle P.J. Hall from Sam Houston State. He’s a reach as a second-round pick, just like Miller was at 15th overall. Even Hall was shocked he was taken so early.

The Raiders did find value at No. 87 with the selection of edge rusher Arden Key of Louisiana State. He was projected as a second-round talent but has off-the-field issues.

Wasn’t punter Marquette King released to send a message about what type of players Gruden wanted?

In the past week, they’ve signed cornerback Daryl Worley, recently arrested for DUI and other charges. They traded for Bryant, who was suspended for the 2016 season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, then complained about losing his starting spot in 2017.

Mixed signals from Gruden.

The Raiders didn’t go heavy on defense until Day 3 when they took a chance on Michigan defensive tackle Maurice Hurst in the fifth round. Hurst has first-round talent, but a heart issue scared teams away.

The Raiders got risky for Gruden’s return draft. But if you’re going to get dicey, you do it in the trenches, as the Raiders did with five of their six picks on the offensive and defensive lines.

We won’t know if the 2018 draft paid off until the team gets to Las Vegas in 2020.

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Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.