Reggie McKenzie sticks to script on Raiders draft
ALAMEDA, Calif. — When the lunacy of the NFL draft’s third and final day concluded — what with an orangutan unveiling picks for the Indianapolis Colts and many still confused whether a fourth-round pick of the Oakland Raiders is legally blind — Reggie McKenzie had stuck to the script.
He didn’t bury the lead.
Statistics really can define a team’s strengths and weaknesses, and as impressive as things were for the Raiders last year in winning 12 games and advancing to the playoffs, they weren’t good enough defensively to overcome serious injuries elsewhere. They needed to stop people a lot more.
I’m pretty sure Rocky the orangutan could have done as capable a job covering tight ends than anyone the Raiders have tried in some time — all the while eating the snack he munched on after touching a screen Saturday that displayed selections for the Colts.
How in the world did they not instead go with a horse from Indiana Downs?
Yeah, things get all sorts of wacky on Day 3, and yet they remained somewhat ordinary with the Raiders.
McKenzie likes to talk about not swaying from his draft board when selecting players, an evaluation process in 2017 that obviously tilted toward areas where help is most needed.
Which is to say the ones that stop people.
Oakland’s general manager used his first three picks on defensive players and six of the team’s nine on that side of the ball, hoping enough talent and depth exists within many of those names that the Raiders won’t have to rely so heavily on what is a dynamic offense to win games.
“We hope out of all of the competition part of it, the cream rises and we have a very good 53-man roster,” McKenzie said. “I’m not going to say we try and hide things (with the draft), but we like a lot of players. When our pick comes, I’m not going to say other players we liked were not picked right before us. That happens.
“I think the way it fell, at the end of the day, we got a lot of players that it looks like we need. We felt like we got a lot of players with high talent levels. Some will be more raw than others, but if I’m talking to the board, I would say, ‘Job well done.’ ”
It’s also true that McKenzie likes to shop late in drafts, which he did so again this season to allow the Raiders four seventh-round picks and, by trading out of the sixth, made a group of reporters quite happy that extra time was allowed to watch the Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko fight.
It was also an Oakland draft that didn’t pass without some bizarre storylines.
One player insisted he isn’t a rapist.
Another insisted he isn’t blind.
Both declarations eventually will be resolved, as first-round pick Gareon Conley awaits the outcome of an investigation that has a woman accusing the cornerback from Ohio State of sexual assault and fourth-round choice David Sharpe out of Florida denying reports he is legally blind in his right eye.
That would be an important issue to settle, given such impairment probably would mean Sharpe could only play on the left side of the offensive line. Sharpe said the reports stem from a cataract he had removed when he was younger and admits his vision in the eye is “a little blurrier.”
Just a guess, but that can’t be good when Von Miller is coming at you full speed.
While the offseason was spent adding more skill to an offense that ranked fifth in the league last year, of bringing aboard names such as Marshall Newhouse and Jared Cook and Cordarrelle Patterson and, most recently, Marshawn Lynch, the 26th-rated defense needed its share of upgraded talent.
McKenzie hopes the draft will prove to play a big part in doing so, along with perhaps some of the undrafted free agents he began signing Saturday afternoon, as more defensive players agreed to try to prove they’re good enough to wear silver and black.
“You have to have speed (defensively) the way the game is being played now,” McKenzie said. “You have to be able to play in space. You have to be able to match up. We took that all into consideration when we brought in (potential draft picks) … Make sure short-to-medium plays don’t turn into big plays.
“How much can I get out of this (draft class)? I hope a lot. They’re all going to come here and compete with the veterans we already have on board.”
He stuck to the script and didn’t bury the lead.
And was able to accomplish all of it without the assistance of Rocky the orangutan.
Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 98.9 FM and 1340 AM from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.
