Rounds 4 to 7: Players Who Fit Reggie McKenzie’s Mold

Players still available that fit the mold of Oakland Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie, sorted by round.

The week of the draft, I released a project that I had spent a long time working on — predicting Reggie McKenzie’s draft board. On the surface, it sounds like a crazy idea. But three rounds into the draft, the Oakland Raiders have selected a player on my short list for each round.

Gareon Conley and Obi Melifonwu both checked every single box — meaning, they passed each minimum threshold McKenzie looks for at their positions — and they were the first two picks. The thresholds were determined by looking at Reggie McKenzie’s draft history and finding the lowest mark at 12 different metrics for every player he has drafted.

So if the slowest 3-cone time for a defensive tackle was 7.81 seconds, that is the minimum threshold for that metric at that position. If the slowest 40-yard dash time for cornerbacks McKenzie has drafted was 4.5 seconds, then that’s the threshold. So on and so forth.

For the first round, this was the list of players who met/exceeded every threshold requirement.

For the second round, Obi Melifonwu topped the list and ended up falling to 56. For the third round, based on my research for this project, I figured it had came down to Eddie Vanderdoes or Blair Brown.

Eddie Vanderdoes checked every box with the exception of being underweight by three pounds. But his conditioning and weight had been up and down, so I figured his weight was close enough to where he’d still be an option. Rumors are he played around 340 pounds at UCLA, and cut a ton of weight before the combine.

In a staff roundtable posted before noon pacific time, I had pegged Obi as my top second round target and Vanderdoes as my top third round target. Now, I’m not saying all of this to brag. Those who have followed me on Twitter for awhile hopefully know that. But rather, it just feels good to know that the work that went into the “Reggie McKenzie draft board” article is paying off, and I want to share the findings with everyone in Raider Nation who is interested in reading more about it.

So let’s try to keep this train rolling. Diving back into the data, here are players in each of the remaining rounds that best fit the Reggie McKenzie mold. As well as predictions and honorable mentions.

For reference, here is the link to the Google Doc where I have all my research saved. And lastly, I am going to use NFL.com projections to sort the prospects into each round.

Note: Prospects are sorted by position, and not in any other particular order.

Round 4

Will Holden, OT, Vanderbilt – Only failed the 40-yard dash threshold by 0.17 seconds.

Collin Buchanan, OT, Miami (OH) – Failed the broad jump by four inches, and did not complete the 40-yard dash, 3-cone or 20-yard shuttle.

Nico Siragusa, OG, San Diego State – Failed the weight threshold by 13 pounds.

Deatrich Wise, DE, Arkansas – Reaches 100% of the thresholds, including being a team captain.

Blair Brown, ILB, Ohio – Missed the height threshold by one inch, did not do the bench press.

Anthony Walker Jr., ILB, Northwestern – Only missed the vertical jump threshold by half an inch. Officially an underclassman, but he played three years in college.ni

Will Holden is definitely an intriguing option, but with more help still being needed on defense, my guess is that McKenzie will continue to focus there.

Wise checking every box for McKenzie’s is certainly notable, especially for a mid-round prospect. But Blair Brown only missed height by one inch (he’s 5’11”), so will that be a big deal for McKenzie?

Anthony Walker Jr. is the most well known name of this group, and likely will be the player most of Raider Nation hopes for. But of the three defensive players listed this round, he’s my least favorite option. He’s an average athlete at best, missed tackles pop up on his tape too often, and he gives up far too many receptions while in coverage.

There will also be an “honorable mentions” section later in this article that will mention some other possibilities, such as Jalen Reeves-Maybin, which I’ll explain in more detail when we get to that section. For now, of the players listed here, I think it comes down to Wise or Brown.