Veterans in jeopardy of losing their starting jobs

Three veterans on the Oakland Raiders who are in jeopardy of losing their starting roles as a result of the 2017 NFL Draft.

The 2017 NFL Draft has come and gone, and with it, so too has perhaps some of the anxiety felt by veterans the league over hoping their team wouldn’t draft their eventual replacement — but three Oakland Raiders may still be feeling that anxiety. It’s a common theme in football and always will be, the inevitability of father time catching up with those who once seemed ageless.

Even worse, is when a veteran still feels they have gas left in the tank only to watch a younger, more athletic player drafted at their position. The film Draft Day played on this theme with fictional Browns’ quarterback Brian Drew sweating it out on draft night at the thought of Bo Callaghan being selected by the Browns. Just two years ago, then 33 year old Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth “dared” the Bengals to draft his replacement. They did.

But what about for the Raiders? After Reggie McKenzie’s 2017 haul, it stands to reason that several veterans will be looking over their shoulders come mini-camp. Let’s have a look at who and why.

Reggie Nelson

33 year old Reggie Nelson led the league in interceptions before joining the Raiders last season. He was part of a secondary that woefully under-performed, and was more often than not the Achilles heel of not just the defense, but the Raiders unit as a whole.

Whilst Nelson is still a good leader and still possesses keen football smarts, it’s clear that the safety has lost a step here or there. Watching last seasons tape its clear he’s not as springy as he once was, and consequently, his range as a safety has suffered.

Enter Obi Melifonwu. An absolute freak of an athlete whose measurables are off the charts. Melifonwu needs a little seasoning, yes, but his athleticism gives him a distinct edge over Nelson. Range is one of Melifonwu’s strengths, and he has actually displayed some good man coverage ability alongside solid tackling technique.

Consider that Melifonwu is a second rounder, the plan is for him and Karl Joseph to form the Raiders safety tandem for the next decade.

Sooner or later, Del Rio, Norton Jr. and Woodson are going to be itching to get Melifonwu into the starting slot at safety.  If he truly impresses at camp, there’s a chance Nelson could even be a casualty, let alone lose his starting position.

Sean Smith

As previously mentioned it’s clear that the Raiders weakness last season was the secondary and McKenzie has made a concerted effort to address that. In addition to Melifonwu in the second round, we are all now obviously aware of his selection in the first; Gareon Conley.

Conley comes from a gifted school of defensive backs in Ohio State, with his teammates Marshon Lattimore and Malik Hooker also going in the first round on Thursday night. Conley was apparently the top corner on Reggie’s board, and having allowed an insane passer rating of 14.0 to opposing quarterbacks you can see why.

Now, these days the third corner is on the field a lot more often than he used to be. That means that you could argue that Amerson, Smith and Conley are all “starters” per se. Not to mention one could easily put David Amerson in here as well. The reason being, is that Amerson and Conley are more similar to each other than either are to Sean Smith.

They’re both fast, agile corners who will be tasked with facing the opponents speedsters. People often forget that Amerson ran a 4.35 at the combine. Take a look at my colleague Ted Nguyen’s diagnosis of Conley’s proficiency at consistently defending fades:

(Side note: If you want any info on any of the Raiders recent draftees, Ted is your go to guy. Seriously, his twitter is a goldmine, folks).

Despite this, why do I think Smith is more at risk of losing his starting position? The proof is in the pudding. As a high price free agent Smith has certainly under-performed at corner. In week one, he was benched after getting torched by Brandon Cooks for a 90-yard touchdown. A prized free agent. Benched. Week. One.

Smith has been disappointing, too often getting beat straight off the line of scrimmage. As a tall, physical corner, that’s where Smith should excel. I still remember him dropping an absolute plum of an interception against the Panthers in mid season.

Furthermore, Amerson is 6 foot 2 and a half, so he’s by no means a small corner. Conley and Amerson would give the Raiders speed on both sides of the field, whilst still giving them a taller corner for more physical matchups.

Austin Howard

I have to admit, I kinda feel for Austin Howard sometimes. As the weak link amidst one of the league’s premier offensive lines, Howard is like the nerdy kid who tries to tag along with the popular group that are nice enough to tolerate him. Hopefully he doesn’t read that…

The Raiders offensive success owes a lot to its line. For as good as Derek Carr is, credit McKenzie for realizing that Carr’s success would be contingent on keeping him upright. Something the Texans never did with his brother David. The Raiders offense allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL last season, and guard Kelechi Osemele just made his debut appearance on the NFL top 100 for the first time.

Howard allowed the most sacks of anyone along the line last season, and often lacked the ability to maintain his blocks one on one. Pressure on Carr more often than not came from his side, as opposed to the wall that was Kelechi Osemele and Donald Penn on the left.

In the fourth round, the Raiders selected Florida tackle David Sharpe, a two year starter at the blindside for the gators. Here is an intriguing note about Sharpe. The kid he was protecting down there? None other than Jack Del Rio’s son, Luke. Do you think that Jack had some good conversations with his son about Sharpe? You betcha. Take that as a vote of confidence that Del Rio has enough regard for Sharpe to block not only his franchise quarterback but his own son.

Early in the draft process reports were that Sharpe was “legally blind” in his right eye so could only play left tackle, which he has vehemently dismissed as untrue. That aside, Sharpe has displayed a nastiness at left tackle for the gators. He’s not afraid of getting in an opponents grill.

Some have pinpointed his pancake block against Jonathan Allen in the SEC Championship game as evidence for how good he is, but I’m not biting. The first few plays of that game Sharpe looked lost. On the first play he was decidedly beaten on a sweep left. The next, he couldn’t move Allen off the line of scrimmage on a running play in which Allen made the tackle. Two plays after that, Allen ripped him like a can opener and burst through the inside. Then of course came the pancake.

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Sharpe shows promise, but he needs a lot of work and needs to be far more consistent. Going against elite competition such as Allen demonstrated as such.  I expect the Raiders staff to work with him and more so with Vadal Alexander, to make the right tackle position one that is open for competition.

So whilst Nelson, Smith and Howard stick out as guys that stand to lose their starting roles, that by no means guarantees anyone or else, or even guarantees that these rookies will convincingly beat anyone out. That folks, is what makes training camp so intriguing.