2021 NFL Draft: OTs the Las Vegas Raiders could target in the second round

Speaking of intriguing prospects, Walker Little may be the most interesting offensive tackle prospect in this year’s class. He burst on to the college scene with the Stanford Cardinal in 2018 as a true freshman and became an instant starter at left tackle.

He dominated his competition and was the Pac 12 Co-Offensive Freshman of the Year alongside JJ Taylor from the University of Arizona.

Little’s dominance continued during his sophomore season as he was named First-Team All-Pac 12 in 2018 and lead the Cardinal to a victory over Pitt in the Sun Bowl. It was in 2019 that things went sideways as Little suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game against Northwestern.

He was ready to make his triumphant return in 2020 but chose to opt-out of the season after the Pac 12 did not start its season until November.

Some scouts and pundits believe that Walker did not make the right decision by opting out because he will have been out of the game essentially for two seasons, but he still has plenty of tape out there from his freshman and sophomore years. If he can prove to teams that he is back to full health he could wind up being one of the steals of the draft.

Teams may overlook him because of his long layoff but he has great size at 6’7″, 310lbs, and was once considered a top prospect before his knee injury. Stanford’s loss could be the Raiders’ gain as they could snatch up a first-round talent in the second or even third round of the draft.