The Super Bowl is over and that means the NFL off-season is in full swing. The Oakland Raiders have the 14th pick in the 2016 draft after finishing with a 7-9 record and third in the AFC West. The Raiders have almost $73 million in cap space to work with and hope to build off the young talent that they feature. They have some notable free agents in LT Donald Penn, OLB Aldon Smith, and P Marquette King.
Oakland Raiders 2016 Off-Season: Top 3 Needs
Defensive Back
With the exception of David Amerson the Raiders were not very good at corner last season. They ranked 26th in passing defense giving up an average of 259 yards per game. With receivers like Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Jeremy Maclin, and Keenan Allen all in their division corner is definitely a position that the Raiders will need to upgrade. Safety will also be key with Charles Woodson retiring. Woodson will leave behind some big shoes to fill.
With nearly $73 million in cap space to work with, Oakland can compete pretty heavily in free agency if they feel it’s necessary. It is possible that if the Chiefs do not lock down Sean Smith that the Raiders might go for him or Trumaine Johnson or Janoris Jenkins of the Los Angeles Rams. These are considered some of the top corners in the league right now when it comes to free agency. Corner isn’t a bad position to target via this route due to rookies usually not being too effective in their first season of the NFL.
Middle Linebacker
The Raiders have Khalil Mack on one side of the linebackers and possibly Aldon Smith, if he will ever stay out of trouble along with if Oakland brings him back since he is a free agent this offseason. That said, they have no one in the middle to lead the defense. They started the season with Curtis Lofton as the middle linebacker but he was benched for rookie Neiron Ball in week five. Lofton was signed in the offseason of 2015 from the New Orleans Saints but has not panned out for the Raiders.
This is a position that the Oakland Raiders might also look towards the free agency market. And they may target teams in their own division since Danny Trevathan of the Broncos or Derrick Johnson of the Chiefs will be hitting free agency. Trevathan is the younger option out of the two but either one is still very capable of running a solid defense and might be brought in to help mentor Mack and maybe even keep Aldon Smith in check.
Offensive Line
The Raiders have a good young franchise quarterback in Derek Carr. However, Carr needs an offensive line to give him time to find receivers Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper. This is especially key in a division that features Justin Houston and Von Miller. Donald Penn is one of the better tackles in the league so they must bring him back. Penn wants to stay with the Raiders but he does not want to give Oakland a hometown discount. They will need to work out a contract with him, luckily they do have a lot of cap space room to work with.
The Raiders can look towards the free agency and the draft to boost up their offensive line. The Raiders had a pretty solid unit in 2015, ranked at sixth by Pro Football Focus. But it is key for them to bring back Penn to keep their line solid. They did pretty well with pass blocking but could do better at defending the run, where they ranked 18th. They also had some penalty troubles as well. With the Broncos and Chiefs having very solid defenses the last thing you want to do is become one dimensional against either one of these defenses.
