Oakland Raiders Mock Draft: Dane Brugler of CBS Sports

The Oakland Raiders have the 24th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Here is who Dane Brugler has them taking in his most recent mock draft.

As of this writing, we’re not even 10 days removed from the Super Bowl, yet “mock draft season” is in full swing. The Oakland Raiders have the 24th overall pick, and I’m not sure there are two mock drafts out there that have the Raiders taking the same player — it’s all over the place right now.

We’ve got updated mock drafts from Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network and both Todd McShay and Mel Kiper as of ESPN, as well as our own seven-round mock draft from a few weeks ago.

We’ll keep tabs on the most up to date mock drafts as the offseason rolls along, and we’ll likely add a few other draft analysts to the mix. Such as Dane Brugler of CBS Sports, who released his latest mock draft the day before Valentine’s Day.

So will Raiders fans “love” the pick? (sorry, I’ll see myself out)

With the 24th pick, Brugler has Oakland selecting Haason Reddick, LB, Temple.

"A defensive back-turned-rusher in college, Reddick will make the move to linebacker in the NFL and has the athleticism to be a star."

Brugler’s note on Reddick is interesting — defensive back turned pass rusher — for a couple of different reasons. For one, Reddick has an obvious lack of experience at the position, yet, he finds himself in the first round of a mock draft. Which speaks to both how well he has played regardless of the lack of experience, and also to his athleticism, which Brugler says gives him the potential to be a star.

Reddick is a player that been climbing up draft boards (the media’s draft boards) in the last month or so. Which basically just means that NFL teams are high on a certain player, and the big media outlets are just now finding that out, and are playing catch up.

At 6’2″, 237 pounds, Haason is undersized by NFL standards for the position. But we’ve seen a shift in recent seasons in this regard, as it’s no longer a necessity for linebackers to be built in the “old school” mold. Deion Jones, who the Raiders passed on in favor of Jihad Ward, is one of several notable examples of that.

https://twitter.com/BenFennell_NFL/status/824418295847739394

So while it may not seem like Reddick could play inside linebacker due to his lack of size, I wouldn’t rule it out. His best fit may be somewhere on the outside, but if he can add some strength and improve shedding blocks, he’ll thrive in either spot.

Reddick’s athleticism is his biggest selling point, and he’s a guy that is going to kill the combine. O the below clip, he stays stride for stride with the running back. Having a linebacker who could actually cover people might make the collective minds of Raider Nation explode.

He has impressive read and react skills, and displayed an intriguing level of versatility while at Temple. They lined him all over the place, and regardless of where he was on the field, he was wreaking havoc. Reddick led the nation in tackles for loss.

Reddick might not be a household name yet, but after the NFL Combine, he will be.

To pick Reddick, Brugler has the Raiders passing on Jabril Peppers, Zach Cunningham and Sidney Jones, among a few others.

Next: JBB's Raiders Offseason Mailbag

Personally, I would have selected Sidney Jones. As of right now, he’s my second ranked cornerback and who simply think is the best player still on the board in this scenario. But it’s hard to complain about the direction Brugler went.