The Oakland Raiders have the number four pick in the NFL draft this year and the team could look at taking Marcus Mariota to replace Derek Carr if he is available and other names like Amari Cooper, Kevin White, DeVante Parker, Shane Ray, Dante Fowler, Leonard Williams, Todd Gurley and Brett Hundley have also come up in mock drafts as potential targets for the team.
Mariota has been generating plenty of interest with the Buccaneers expected to take Jameis Winston and the Raiders were not expected to be involved after taking Derek Carr last year. John McTigue posted a piece on ESPN Insider about the potential of the Raiders taking Mariota to be a replacement for Carr and he detailed the reasons why the move makes sense. According to ESPN beat reporter Bill Williamson, the piece suggests that while Carr did have a successful rookie season, a "deeper" look into his numbers shows that his numbers were not that impressive.
Carr shouldn't be fully judged on what happened last season for the Raiders, as the team had holes all over the place, but McTigue writes that his Total QBR "ranked 28th out of 33 qualified quarterbacks" in 2014. Carr ended up with 3270 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 16 games and he completed just 58 percent of his passes. Williamson writes that adding Mariota would be a "radical" move after taking Carr in 2014, but the money in the draft is not what it used to be.
The team also could use the interest in Mariota to generate trade interest in the pick, as many teams have been interested in moving up for Mariota. If the Raiders pass up on that option, the team has a number of players to look at with the number four pick. Amari Cooper has come up in numerous mock drafts for the Raiders, while Pro Football Talk predicts Kevin White will be the pack, as the Raiders have often made speed a premium when it comes to the draft.
Cooper had a monster season at Alabama, putting up over 120 receptions for 1727 yards and 16 touchdowns and he also ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. The Bears have been looked at as a target for Cooper if he slips past the top five. White put up a great 40-time at the combine and he also had a big season, making 109 receptions for 1447 yards and 10 touchdowns for West Virginia. Parker also has explosive speed, but he likely will be taken after White and Cooper.
The Raiders added Trent Richardson and Roy Helu this offseason, but they also could look at adding a player like Todd Gurley to get in the mix at running back. Taking a quarterback two years in a row in the draft is not the terrible move it once was, as players are now slotted into contracts and that means taking another player will not mess up the salary cap too much. Carr proved that he can start in the NFL with the way he played last season, but if the Raiders think that Mariota is a better option than Carr, they should not hesitate to make the move.
