Oakland Raiders 2018 NFL Draft: 5 front-seven players to take in first round
By John Buhler
The Oakland Raiders should be able to get themselves potentially a defensive superstar with their top-10 pick in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft. There will be a run at quarterbacks, which should allow the Raiders to land a guy at either No. 9 or No. 10 that had top-five talent. More power to the Raiders in that scenario.
Though going after a guy like Penn State Nittany Lions running back Saquon Barkley could be in play, it serves the Raiders to get defensive coordinator Paul Guenther a stud on his side of the ball with that top-10 pick. Should the Raiders move back into the teens or early 20s, they could still get a solid starting-level player that Guenther could turn into a perennial Pro Bowler. The Raiders are in prime drafting position, so don’t mess this up, guys!
Odds are that they won’t. The Raiders have several position groups that need to get better before they even think about contending for a Super Bowl. While there is some debate if the Raiders should go front-seven or defensive back with this top-10 pick, for the sake of simplicity, we’ll say that general manager Reggie McKenzie goes front-seven this year. We can address if he goes with a defensive back in the top-10 at a later date.
Should the Raiders be in pursuit of an elite defensive front-seven prospect, one of these five players could be donning the Silver and Black as rookies in 2018. Some might be worth trading up for, while others could be available if the Raiders do intend to move back. Either way, all five could help the Raiders out right out of the gate this fall.
Every few years or so, the Boston College Eagles will have a first-round talent entering the NFL Draft. Like Matt Ryan and Luke Kuechly before him, there is a lot to like about the Eagles’ senior edge player Harold Landry. While we don’t know where he’ll land exactly in the upcoming draft, he feels like a lock to go in the first-round.
Landry is seen as maybe the second best edge prospect in the draft after North Carolina State Wolfpack’s Bradley Chubb. While Chubb is a lock to go top-10 and probably top-five, Landry could go top-10 or maybe fall back to the early 20s were a 2017 Wild Card team could end up taking him. Either way, he could be right in the Raiders’ wheelhouse for a selection at No. 9 or No. 10.
Landry is 6-foot-3, 250 pounds. He played in 38 games in Chestnut Hill, where he recorded 158 total tackles (100 solo, 58 assists), 48.0 tackles for a loss of yardage, 25.0 quarterback sacks, 10 forced fumbles, six pass breakups, an interception and a fumble recovery.
Though his junior year in 2016 was far more productive than his senior campaign in 2017, the numbers don’t lie in terms of Landry’s transition to the NFL. He did play in a very difficult ACC Atlantic Division with teams like the Clemson Tigers, the Florida State Seminoles and the Louisville Cardinals. Landry may not be worth trading up for with the Raiders, but he could end up being the selection at No. 9 or No. 10 should he fall to Oakland.