Free Agency thread for Raiders and league-wide

[RunOverByHubbard]

Free agency opens March 11. CBS Sports has their top 50 ranking. No Raiders on the list. I am surprised at a couple rated high - Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones. Lots of wide receivers

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/earl ... ng-top-50/

[Coach dd 11]

Slaughter will probably go in the first. Lew on the other hand might be there for us, actually should be there. Good size and he can pull and moves very well in space which is an aspect of the Kubiak scheme.

Wow...that is a prediction!
I don't think there is any way any OC goes in the first round of this draft. Yet, the draft is weird and names go all over the board.
The next couple of months is going to be interesting.

[Attyla]

Wow...that is a prediction!
I don't think there is any way any OC goes in the first round of this draft. Yet, the draft is weird and names go all over the board.
The next couple of months is going to be interesting.

yea, I can make a case that Slaughter as the best center could go in the first, but he might drop. What helps move him up is the fact that only one QB goes in the top ten if I am reading the tea leaves correctly. The top level players in this draft are likely OTs WRs and Corner. Mix in some DTs and a few LBs with one RB going in the first. Projections have Slaughter as the best of the best which could elevate him into the first if a team is in need at the position. He might drop into the second if teams are drafting BPA. That would drop him down. I have seen projections as high as 25 and as low as the third round. I am pretty confident he is not a third round guy. He gave up one sack all year and Florida plays a lot of tough opponents.

[Coach dd 11]

Ok another question for ya....if JPJ or Linderbaum is a key target for OC, whey would you even consider drafting a guy like Slaughter or would you?
I don't mind take a OC in the later rounds for a key backup spot but surely you wouldn't address that position or players this early in the draft no?

[JRaider17]

Doesn't the tampering period start on March 9th?

[Attyla]

Doesn't the tampering period start on March 9th?

yep. I expect us to splash a deal that day. Of course agents are going to do behind the scenes deals before that, it is the nature of the beast

[KillerRaider30]

If we don't get a top center in fa, hopefully a stud is there with our 2nd pick

I thought i heard Kubiak state center was important directly at his presser so the position could be a high priority.

Now in his wide zone scheme offensive lineman need to be athletic and still strong enough to anchor in pass pro.

Is JPJ athletic? Idk. Was he drafted for a power scheme or zone?

This is the problem with changing HCs and schemes every other year.

Add the new HC wont get hos hands on any player until after fa and the draft so how does he exactly know what the teams needs are and how far along they are in development.

Bech was draft for a HC who had a vision for his skill set. Does the new HC have the same vision or is it a second r pick down the tubes?
Idk

[chucker]

[KillerRaider30]

Q Meyers asked Kubiak, after the PC today, if the plan was to run ZBS and what it takes to make that successful. Kubiak identified that you start doing it day 1 and just keep repeating it. He also said it is all about repetition and you start in April and build muscle memory and improve over the season.

Q asked what kind of olineman it takes to execute it and Kubiak answered that "you have to be athletic but you can't be so light that you can't pass pro. Really the most important thing is getting a really bright center that can ID fronts and get everybody on the same page".

This tells me signing a center is high priority due to that JPJ is unknown to Kubiak.

[chucker]

This tells me signing a center is high priority due to that JPJ is unknown to Kubiak.

I don't know if JPJ is a total unknown, but I suspect his injury history is a major concern. Kubiak's offense was impacted by multiple centers going down to injury with the Saints.

Also the only thing he mentioned with respect to center is the mental aspect - none of us know anything for sure about JPJ because of Brennan Carroll, but it doesn't appear that it's the strength of his game.

I'd prefer to see us sign a center in FA - Linderbaum or McGovern - and plan for JPJ at guard. If we sign Connor McGovern, we need to be sure we sign the right one - there are two Connor McGoverns who play center in the NFL, and one was a fill-in for the Saints under Kubiak. We don't want that guy, we want the guy from Buffalo. We need to avoid another Byron Young fiasco.

[raider_kin]

...there are two Connor McGoverns who play center in the NFL, and one was a fill-in for the Saints under Kubiak.

What are the odds?

[BoJacksonRules]

If we draft a Center over a starting caliber OT I’m sure a lot of us including myself would be pissed, not that that really matters, but I’ll be pissed

[Hellbound]

If Kubiak thinks JPJ can be his center hopefully he can sray healthy more than he has and I guess we'll find out if he couldn't make line calls as was reported last year. If that's true then he's either a guard or off of the team as I don't think Kubiak will waste any time getting rid of players who don't fit or buy in

[SkullCrusher]

Using a 53 man roster the difference from first to last is 13ish players, which I feel is better to put ones head around.

[MexicanHulk]

Slaughter will probably go in the first. Lew on the other hand might be there for us, actually should be there. Good size and he can pull and moves very well in space which is an aspect of the Kubiak scheme.

Yeah, Lew will likely be there &, before the injury was seen as the consensus best C. At least it seemed like it from the pods I had come across. This might be somewhat of a throw away year for him because of his ACL injury but, could pay off big the following year. He shoulda never be able to play some this year tho, to gain experience.

[Attyla]

Yeah, Lew will likely be there &, before the injury was seen as the consensus best C. At least it seemed like it from the pods I had come across. This might be somewhat of a throw away year for him because of his ACL injury but, could pay off big the following year. He shoulda never be able to play some this year tho, to gain experience.

If we get a stop gap center in FA, I might consider Lew in the third, but that is a stretch both that he is there and that we would drop kick a draft pick on a futures guy