The draft is less than a month away and a report in The Athletic this week said that all signs are pointing to the Raiders taking an offensive tackle early in the draft.
Certainly offensive tackle is a need on the roster, but they also have to find a starting safety. As of now, no one on the Raiders’ roster deserves much consideration to be their starting free safety in week one. This isn’t a deep draft for safeties and for that reason there is one name that will be linked to the Raiders a lot over the next four weeks.
Former Bleacher Report draft analyst Matt Miller (who recently formed TheDraftScout) has been mock drafting (yes, that is an acceptable term) TCU safety Tre’Von Moehrig to the Raiders for weeks and he won’t be the only draft pundit mocking (also an acceptable term) Moehrig to Las Vegas between now and April 29.
“After signing Yannick Ngakoue, the Raiders have made their big, splash move. Now it’s time to fortify the secondary with a versatile chess piece type weapon in safety Tre’Von Moehrig,” Miller wrote at TheDraftScout this week.
“One of my favorite players in the entire class, Moehrig is so good at so many things. He can play centerfielder with awesome range, but he can also drop down into the box and cover slot receivers. And at 6’1” and 202 pounds he plays like a bigger Antoine Winfield, Jr.”
Plays like a bigger Antoine Winfield Jr., you say?
If true, draft the young man yesterday.
For what it’s worth, NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah is also a big fan of Moehrig. Jeremiah lists Moehrig as his no. 19 overall prospect in his latest top-50 rankings:
“Moehrig has adequate size, but excellent versatility and instincts. He can play in the deep post or cover in the slot. He is a smooth, fluid mover in man coverage underneath. He also possesses ideal anticipation and range from the back end. He has the ability to consistently match patterns and position himself for plays on the ball. The former TCU star does need to improve his finishing ability, having dropped a couple interceptions in the games I studied. He takes quality angles in run support and is a reliable, low tackler. Overall, Moehrig offers a complete skill set at the position. He will provide his defensive coordinator with options, which is exactly what’s desired in 2021.”
Sounds like the kind of player the Raiders desperately need in their secondary, doesn’t he?
twitter: @raidersbeat
To be honest I haven’t seen Moehrig mocked to the Raiders, at least not in the first. He’s typically drafted a little later in most drafts that I have seen, or even early in the second. He’s a good player, and if the Raiders got him in a trade down or trade up in the second, he would be a good pick. But at 17 he wouldn’t be good value when the Raiders are trying to overhaul their offensive line. The only defensive player who may fall to them that would make sense to draft would be Parsons, just because he is a versatile playmaker in multiple facets of the game and is likely one of the top 5 players in the draft.
nope. draft OL first and then get better speed on the backend with Cisco.
Take Moehrig in 1st and Holland in 2nd. Case closed.