Raiders Eyeing Starting Guard In Draft

The Raiders disbanded their successful guard tandem this offseason, trading All-Pro Kelechi Osemele and a sixth-round pick to the Jets for a fifth-round selection. They plan to find Gabe Jackson‘s next guard mate in this draft, Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes.

Osemele and Jackson started together for three seasons, forming one of the NFL’s best guard duos. This stands to be Jackson’s sixth season as a Raiders starter. He will join Rodney Hudson, Trent Brown and, likely, Kolton Miller on the Raiders’ first-string line. But it does not look like the Raiders want Denzelle Good or UFA addition Jordan Devey to be part of the unit.

Good, who started three games for the Raiders last season after the team claimed him late in the year, re-signed on a one-year, $1.8MM deal. Devey (two Chiefs starts in 2018) will make $880K this season.

Beyond their three first-round picks, the Raiders hold the No. 35 overall selection. Their next pick is not until No. 106, pointing to the team using one of its first four choices on a guard. The current thinking is a quarterback will not be one of Oakland’s first three picks. The team is eyeing cornerback help in this draft.

The Raiders’ only known pre-draft guard visit was with mid-round prospect Connor McGovern, but their staff coached Dalton Risner, a tackle who is likely to move inside at the pro level, along with Chris Lindstrom and centers Garrett Bradbury and Erik McCoy at the Senior Bowl.

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