Raiders urged to avoid heavily favored prospect

With mere days remaining before the first round of the NFL Draft, the pick for the Las Vegas Raiders is still somewhat obvious.

While other needs have taken more precedence over the last few weeks, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty still feels like the choice for the sixth overall pick. Head coach Pete Carroll further fueled the rumors by telling general manager John Spytek to be careful in regards to a question about Jeanty. With Carroll’s best teams revolving around great running backs, the idea of Jeanty being the bellcow for his Raiders is tempting.

However, with so many needs, analysts are wondering if the obvious course of action is the right one.

Some believe the Raiders should pass on Jeanty and target a prospect at a premium position.

Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski did an article on one prospect each team should avoid and, in a rare moment of dissent, he urged the Raiders to avoid Jeanty with the sixth overall pick.

“Jeanty may be a beast of a runner, but the team should quake at the idea of spending the sixth overall pick on the position,” Sobleski wrote. “Anyone can guarantee with 100 percent certainty that this year’s group of running backs will produce multiple productive runners at the NFL level. A team doesn’t need to spend its most valuable asset to fill the position, not when other needs areas could be addressed with similarly-graded talents.”

In fairness, Sobleski is correct in his assessment on the running back class. North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton and Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson have also emerged as potential first-round picks, and more starting-caliber options can be found on Day Two and even Three. With that in mind, Sobleski argues that other prospects might be better for the Raiders with such a premium draft pick.

“For example, Bleacher Report has Jeanty graded as the sixth overall prospect. However, the Raiders could invest in a premium position with a prospect like cornerback Will Johnson or offensive tackle Armand Membou and still get similar value. Las Vegas can then land a starting-caliber running back option on Day 2,” Sobleski continued.

While Sobleski’s reasoning is sound, the Raiders are throwing too much smoke out on Jeanty for it to be a simple smokescreen.

The Raiders have said and done too much to suggest their interest in Jeanty is just a carefully-crafted narrative. It helps that last year’s first-round pick in Brock Bowers was at a non-premium position in tight end, but he was far and away the best player available. Carroll and Spytek could see Jeanty in a similar vein, and decide that talent trumps need or positional value.

Options do exist for the Raiders at six, but it feels as though their preferred choice was decided long ago.