Raiders Look Forward To Taking the Next Step

Raiders' Prospects

The Raiders are making sure to do their homework on players they may potentially add in the draft. Las Vegas has lost nearly 30 games in the past two seasons, largely due to a poor roster that has suffered from years of bad draft picks. Las Vegas' front office aims to make that a distant memory.

Las Vegas has all but buttoned up its plans for the draft and how they plan to approach things. Raiders assistant general manager Brian Stark recently explained where the Raiders are in their draft process. Las Vegas dug deep into potential prospects that could join the team.

“I think there's a lot of prospects in this draft where, especially with the transfer portal, the NIL world that our evaluations, they start the moment these kids get to college. So, all of these players, you have to be aware of them a little bit earlier, because you have to know the sources that you can talk to learn about these prospects,” Stark said at the team's pre-draft press conference.

“So, if any of these guys that have transferred, I mean, we're exhausting every resource at every school they've been -- where they started, where they transferred to, and the evaluations are constantly evolving right up until the Draft." 

Stark noted that even as recently as a week before the draft, the Raiders' front office is doing all it can to gather more information on certain prospects. This confirms just how detailed the Raiders' scouting department and front office have been in their process ahead of the draft.

‘We're still getting information on all these, we're still talking about the information we've had, that we've accumulated. So, it's taking all that information in and then forming our impression, our opinion, on these players. And we're still having conversations right now about a lot of these guys, trying to hone in on what our impression is. So, it's kind of a never-ending cycle once they start college, especially in today's world," Stark said.

Raiders' Future

This week's NFL Draft gives the Raiders yet another chance to improve their roster. Las Vegas has had a productive offseason so far, but it must keep it up by reeling in a solid draft haul later this week. It will be up to Spytek, Stark, and the Raiders' front office to make it happen.

It will be one of the more pivotal drafts the Raiders have had in some time. Las Vegas cannot afford to have any misses in this draft, especially early on. The Raiders simply need to continue addressing their roster needs the way they have been this offseason: aggressively.

The draft is the Raiders' front office's best remaining opportunity to address their roster this offseason and its holes. Although it is good to have the No. 1 pick in hand and figured out, the importance of the rest of the draft class cannot be overstated enough. Las Vegas must have a strong draft.

Rebuilding a roster is a process, and the Raiders are only at the beginning stages of that process. Still, this draft, and every draft after that, presents Las Vegas with critical opportunities to improve. It will be up to the Raiders' front office to secure a quality haul of draftees this weekend.