Raiders

5 Prospects Raiders Should Avoid in the NFL Draft

We are now less than a month away from the extravaganza that is the 2019 NFL Draft. Rumors about players and teams are furiously circulating, and their intensity will only increase as the draft gets closer. With that being stated, it’s a ripe moment to focus on a few college prospects the Oakland Raiders should avoid on the evening of April 25th in Nashville.

Raiders 2019 Prospects

Wide Receiver D.K. Metcalf, Mississippi

The prototypical college product, Metcalf seems like a bust waiting to happen. He physically resembles former Cardinals first-round pick David Boston, but owns the statistics of former Vikings and Jaguars wide receiver Troy Williamson. Metcalf got injured throughout his Ole Miss career, never opened his full can of abilities and was mostly used as a deep threat in a rather simplistic scheme that relied heavily on the pass. Also, NFL scouts have to be wondering why the Rebels’ best season with Metcalf on campus was 6-6 in spite of having so much talent on their roster.

Defensive End Rashan Gary, Michigan

Production doesn’t always match the value and Gary is the perfect example. He somehow only managed a merely 10.5 career sacks for the Wolverines. That realistically puts a player of Gary’s nature later in the opening round with his attributes. To Gary’s defense, he was double and triple teamed through his entire tenure at Michigan. He was the consensus #1 recruit in the nation coming out of Paramus Catholic in 2016, and he didn’t put up the numbers that should be expected of a can’t miss prospect. Moreover, Gary chose to sit out the 2019 Peach Bowl loss to Florida, which continued the disturbing trend of likely first round pick. The potential is there, it’s just uncertain if Gary will be able to tap it.

Edge Jachai Polite, Florida

Polite openly admitted that he “wasn’t ready mentally” for the NFL Scouting Combine and ended up running the 40-yards in a pedestrian 4.8 seconds. He then ventured on to his Pro Day, where he ran a worse 40 time than he did at the combine. He also checked in a tad overweight, not to mention that he’s already considered a DE/OLB tweener who even said that teams were “bashing” him during the interview segment of the combine. Polite comes off as a one year wonder, but his sudden burst off the snap is second to none. NFL executives will seriously question if Polite can make it as a professional at the next level.

Other notable college draftees with question marks include:

Running Back Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma

An all-around talented runner who was only healthy for one full season during his college career, Anderson is just an injury away from being place on Injury Reserve. Also, Anderson was also accused of rape in November of 2017, but even though the charges were later dropped, NFL teams will need to do further research on him.

Wide Receiver Preston Williams, Colorado State

Suspended by head coach Mike Bobo prior to the 2018 campaign because he plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge, Williams redeemed himself in the eyes of the coaches with a highly productive 2018 season though. NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein compares Williams to free agent and ex Raider Martavis Bryant.

Taking a risk on one of these young man will require patience, coaching and just a little bit of luck in a league that doesn’t offer much of that anymore.

Ramble On respectfully Raider Nation!

[pickup_prop id=”21986″]

Join The Ramble Email List

Share your thoughts here, Raider Nation...

error: Nice Try!
Subscribe to RaiderRamble

Get updates from RaiderRamble via email:

Join 5,853 other subscribers