Oakland Raiders full 2016 NFL Draft picks
The Oakland Raiders continued a strong offseason with an excellent draft.
Few teams are doing better than the Raiders this offseason – if any. Oakland has been curshing it in both freee agency and the draft behind the plan of general manager Reggie McKenzie, who added Kelechi Osemele, Bruce Irvin, Reggie Nelson and Sean Smith in free agency.
Here is the list of picks Oakland made in the 2016 NFL Draft:
- Round 1 (14) – Karl Joseph, S, West Virginia
- Round 2 (44) – Jihad Ward, DE, Illinois
- Round 3 (75) – Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State
- Round 4 (100) – Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State
- Round 5 (143) – DeAndre Washington, RB, Texas Tech
- Round 6 (194) – Cory James, LB, Colorado State
- Round 7 (234) – Vadal Alexander, OG, LSU
Oakland went heavy on defense with the first three picks. Joseph will likely come in and start right away next to Nelson, giving the Raiders a much better secondary than in 2015.
The front seven was also bolstered with Ward and Calhoun coming into the fold. Both could start with Mario Edward’s situation up in the air. Ward was projected by some to be a late first-round pick, so that is great value for McKenzie.
As for Cook, look for him to come in and become the primary backup to Derek Carr. The Raiders have been getting by for years with Matt McGloin, but Cook represents the chance to upgrade.