NFL Draft: Oakland Raiders should target Ed Oliver at No. 4 overall
The Oakland Raiders will get started early on Thursday night, picking at No. 4 overall, and they should go after Houston star Ed Oliver.
The Oakland Raiders have a real opportunity to improve their roster this week, as they hold three first round picks. With their first pick, which comes in at No. 4 overall, they should look to add a player that is not being mocked to them in many mock draft.
Thursday, April 25th will finally be the start of the “EndGame” and I’m not talking about Avengers: EndGame either. I’m referring to the NFL Draft which will finally commence this Thursday at 5pm PST/8pm EST. Mock drafts will no longer be a thing and they’ll be irrelevant until the end of the year. The same goes for the endless hypothetical conversations about what teams should do with their first round pick.
It’s why it’s been fun for some people to try and project what the Raiders will do. My fantastic colleagues here at JustBlogBaby have given their brilliant insight into mocks and who their crushes are. Meanwhile, I have stayed away from projecting until now.
Who should the Oakland Raiders take at four? Should they trade up? Or down?
When it comes to the fourth pick, the Oakland Raiders should not trade from their spot unless some team seriously offers a deal they can’t refuse. Since the odds of that happening are low, the Raiders should stay at No. 4 and select University of Houston’s Ed Oliver. Oliver is the most likely of all top prospects that will be available at pick four.
He is also the most versatile of top players available. Ed Oliver was strictly used as a nose tackle in college, which is outright baffling. It just shows the tunnel vision coaching he was exposed to. Oliver can easily swing out on the edge and produce. In fact, when given the opportunity he has demonstrated he can excel outside of his enforce nose tackle position.
According to Pro Football Focus, Oliver’s 504 snaps outside of nose tackle earned him an 82.8 pass rush grade. Whereas his performance at nose saw him play 548 snaps that earned him an average pass rush grade of 74.1. His grade as a pass rusher at his nose tackle spot doesn’t have the same impact as he is outside, but that should not be of concern.
Generating a pass rush at that position is extremely difficult. It’s why Aaron Donald is the epitome of greatness. When it came to stopping the run, Oliver was elite. This guy can be a Swiss Army knife on the defensive line. Versatility has been valued heavily from the Raiders coaching staff on both sides of the ball, especially defensively.
While I’m advocating for Ed Oliver at four, it does not mean I would not welcome a player like Quinnen Williams, who would make the interior defensive line of the Raiders a serious threat.
Still, I believe Oliver is just an athletic freak. He’s a player that can still be molded and added onto in order to achieve elite status. Drafting him is taking him for what he is, which is a phenomenal versatile player with endless upside.
Oliver has been my crush at No. 4 for the Raiders since January and I see no reason to abandon it now. Though I do think having Joel Segal as his agent might have a slight impact on whether the Raiders draft him or not.
After Oliver
Another crush of mine has been cornerback Byron Murphy of the University of Washington. If Murphy somehow slides to the Raiders at 24, then selecting him will be a bigger deal to me than Oliver. Murphy is easily the best corner in this draft and should even be considered as a trade up target for the Raiders.
He instantly would make an impact and be among one of the elites after the season. Zone coverage is his bread and butter, but he can still cover in man adequately. Not to mention that he can line up anywhere in the secondary, though it’s ideal to keep him on the outside. The secondary is a priority need next to pass rush for the Raiders. Having Murphy alongside Gareon Conley is just outright disrespectful.
Next. Expect the Raiders to be very active Thursday. dark
Other than Oliver and Murphy, projecting any player past four is simply a crap shoot. Fingers crossed for Murphy at 24 and whoever falls at 27 the Raiders should take the best pass rusher available or trade back. It’s just a matter of what Jon Gruden views as the team’s greatest priority. Regardless, he and Mike Mayock have an enormous task ahead of them this Thursday night.