Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast on What the NFL Draft Focus of the Silver and Black Has Been and Must Be

Our latest Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast episode evaluates the Silver and Black's past NFL Draft focus and, looking forward, what it must be under Tom Telesco.
Apr 26, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; Kolton Miller (UCLA) with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after
Apr 26, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; Kolton Miller (UCLA) with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

The Las Vegas Raiders are barrelling toward the NFL Draft and are operating with frugality but not being cheap while the National Football League's Free Agency proceeds.

General Manager Tom Telesco, Coach Antonio Pierce, Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham, and Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy are all actively evaluating talent that could reshape the Silver and Black for the next decade.

The team is moving forward with a singular focus with eyes ahead.

Our latest Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast episode evaluates the Silver and Black pas NFL Draft focus, and what it must become under new General Manager Tom Telesco.

You can watch the entire podcast WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

New Las Vegas Raiders General Manager Tom Telesco discussed at the NFL Combine what he has learned so far about the Silver and Black franchise.

 "I think the one thing that jumped off kind of doing a deeper dive is how tough a football team it was, and I would say that on offense, defense and the kicking game. But tough, resilient and really committed to the process. Just watching the whole situation, how the season played out from how it started and then your head coach is no longer there, and then how you finished it with a new head coach. But a really tough-minded, mentally tough football team. So, that's what kind of came out the most. And then you're talking about both sides of ball, offensively we have a lot of work to do, I think that's pretty easy to see. I kind of liked even watching how Adian O'Connell kind of handled the situation. You're talking about a rookie first of all, coming and playing - by the time he starts playing a lot, he no longer has his head coach, it was also the offensive coordinator, so it's a new offensive staff essentially that he's kind of working with. And then we had some injuries late in the year with the left tackle and even Josh Jacobs being out, seeing how well he played late in the year. But we've got a lot of work to do on offense there. And then defensively, I think a lot of it is probably from the continuity of playing the whole year, how well they played. And what a great job Patrick Graham did with the group on a day-to-day basis, but then how they played on the field on Sundays and the mentality that they played with, which is a lot of what you see on defense. And then on special teams we have some pretty elite guys as far as long snapper, punter and kicker, which believe me is great to have. But we've got work to do on all three, but I liked what I saw, the toughness of the football team that's there." 

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the No. 13 overall pick.

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Hondo Carpenter
HONDO CARPENTER

Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. is an award-winning sports journalist who brings decades of experience to his role as editor and publisher, and beat writer for our Las Vegas Raiders and the NFL coverage. Carpenter is a member of the PFWA, FWAA, and USBWA.