Reggie McKenzie Struck Out in his First Full Draft as GM

Reggie McKenzie had his first full draft as General Manager of the Oakland Raiders in 2013. It’s one he would probably like to forget.

As much as Reggie McKenzie has helped improve the Oakland Raiders since he took over in 2012, it was a rough start for the new GM. To be fair, McKenzie didn’t have much to work with in his first draft, 2012, with a paltry six picks at his disposal — none of which are still on the team. In his first full draft, continued with his picks in the 2013 NFL Draft.

As of today, no players from that 2013 NFL Draft are under contract with the Raiders. That’s ten picks, four years later, with only one potentially to return for their fifth season.

Reggie’s first ever first-round draft pick is…

Well, technically it was a trade (a weak one at that) with the Miami Dolphins. McKenzie moved from the 3rd to the 12th pick and only picked up an a second round pick as compensation. Which they were without due to Hue Jackson’s Carson Palmer trade.

With the 12th pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Raiders selected D.J. Hayden, who struggled mightily in his four years in Oakland. He just signed a one year deal with Detroit, ending a forgettable era.

Hindsight is 20/20, but the next two picks were Sheldon Richardson and Star Lotulelei. Even if McKenzie were to pick the next cornerback that was taken, he gets Desmond Trufant or Xavier Rhodes. Any one of those four would have been a massive upgrade from Hayden.

Menelik Watson – 2nd Round, 10th pick

After spending what seemed like a career on injured reserve, Watson never lived up to his potential. He just signed a three-year, $18M contract with the Broncos and is now calling the Raiders “the enemy”. My money is on Mack and Irvin having their way with him if he stays healthy this season.

Some notable names taken after the 10th pick in the second round — Kawann Short (12th pick), Le’Veon Bell (16th pick), Jamie Collins (20th pick), Eddie Lacy (29th pick) and Travis Kelce (1st pick of the third round).

Sio Moore – 3rd round, 4th pick

Sio established himself as a quality player early into his rookie season, and seemed like he was well on his way to being a great pick by McKenzie. He quickly emerged as a team leader, worked hard and started to become a fan favoirte with the Raider Nation.

Then Jack Del Rio came to town, he quickly fell out of favor with the coaching staff and was traded to the Colts before the 2015 season. He has bounced around the league since then and is currently a free agent.

Some notable names taken after Sio in the third round were Tyrann Mathieu (7th pick), Keenan Allen (14th pick) and Jordan Reed (23rd pick).

Tyler Wilson – 4th round, 15th pick

The Raiders traded down from the 3rd pick to the 15th, and then draft Wilson. They picked up an additional 6th round pick in the trade. Tyler never made it to the end of the 2013 season as a Raider and is currently out of NFL.

Some notables taken in the 4th round: Alex Okafor (6th pick), David Bakhtiari (12th pick), J.C Tretter (25th pick).

Nick Kasa – 6th round, 4th pick

Nick was the first of four 6th round picks the Raiders made. Unfortunately he only had a notable special teams play & caught one TD in his two years with Oakland. He is currently a free agent.

Latavius Murray – 6th round, 13th pick

This is the pick the Raiders got for trading down in the 4th round. Latavius is by far McKenzie’s best pick of this class.

Raider Nation has mixed feeling about Latavius’ tenure in Oakland, but his 2016 season was certainly a career year for him. He just signed a three-year, $15M deal with the Vikings.

Mychal Rivera – 6th round, 16th pick

Mychal was praised as a pure pass catching tight end, but he never lived up to the hype.

Known for timely drops and not blocking, he had been subject of trade talks the last few years. He is a free agent and is not expected back with the Raiders.

Stacy McGee – 6th round, 37th pick (compensatory)

Stacy made some plays, but was another one that had some injury issues. Still, he was able to sign a five-year, $25M contract with Washington last week, which some have classified as severely overpaid.

Brice Butler – 7th round, 3rd pick

Brice didn’t do much for the Raiders, other than being traded to the Dallas Cowboys in 2015. He was traded along with a 2016 6th round pick in exchange for a 2016 5th round pick.

Butler just signed a one-year contract to remain with Dallas in 2017.

David Bass – 7th round, 27th pick

David never played a regular season snap for the Raiders. They cut him at the end of training camp, hoping to stash him on the practice squad. But the Bears picked him up and he spent last year with the Titans. He is now a free agent.

Reggie whiffed on the 2013 Draft

Wow, was that a “who’s who” or what? Even the best player, Latavius Murray, is not exactly gangbusters. Was Reggie tight in his first full draft? Did he over think it? But like I tell my kids when I recant stories of my past, I wouldn’t change it, ’cause then I wouldn’t have you.

I’m sure when Reggie sees Mack, Carr and Cooper, he looks back on this draft and thinks the same thing.