Oakland Raiders: 5 defensive players to watch in 2018 Senior Bowl

The 2018 Reese’s Senior Bowl will be in Mobile on Saturday afternoon. Here are five defensive players that the Oakland Raiders should keep an eye on.

For all the NFL Draft junkies, there are few events better than the Reese’s Senior Bowl down in Mobile. Not only do fans and NFL scouts get to see players from all across college football compete in practice for a week, but they get to showcase their stuff in a great, glorified exhibition.

The Senior Bowl is designed for seniors that are likely going in the first four rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft to either elevate their draft stock or get introduced to diehard NFL fans. Every year, somebody emerges from the Senior Bowl as a rookie superstar in the NFL.

Last year, saw Toledo Rockets running back Kareem Hunt explode as the featured back for the Kansas City Chiefs. Two years ago, North Dakota State Bison quarterback Carson Wentz and Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott used the Senior Bowl to become franchise quarterbacks in the NFC East.

While offensive players are always fun to watch, it may be more important to a team like the Oakland Raiders to see who shines on defense in this week down in Mobile. Last year, the Silver and Black used their second and third-round picks on guys that played in the Senior Bowl in UConn Huskies safety Obi Melifonwu and UCLA Bruins defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes. Here are five defensive players the Raiders need to pay close attention to in Saturday’s game down in Mobile.

One player that could be quite the find for the Silver and Black in the middle of the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft would be Auburn Tigers redshirt senior safety Tray Matthews. After playing his first year of college ball for the Georgia Bulldogs in 2013, he transferred to cross-divisional rival Auburn and re-invented himself.

Matthews got better every year in Auburn. He really took off once Kevin Steele became the Tigers’ defensive coordinator in 2016. Matthews was a standout in the Auburn secondary that helped the Tigers win the SEC West for the first time since 2013. He is a hard-hitter with decent ball skills that could play a multitude of positions at the next level.

At 6-foot-1, 209 pounds, Matthews could play both strong safety and press man corner at the next level depending on the team that drafts him’s need. Matthews had 216 career tackles (127 solo, 89 assists), 11 pass breakups, 6.0 tackles for a loss of yardage, five interceptions, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in four years split between Georgia and Auburn.

Playing in the SEC and in multiple positions should have Matthews ready to compete for playing time in year one. He’s probably a fourth to fifth-round pick entering the draft process. Not to say that he’ll be a star player by any means at the next level, but Matthews seems to have a high floor as an NFL prospect that can definitely be coached up.