:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/29435217/464094107.0.jpg)
Under the late Al Davis, the Oakland Raiders were known for their odd draft picks. Just look at wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey who was taken at No. 7 in the 2009 NFL Draft who was taken much higher than anyone else due to his speed.
The Raiders are still an odd team with their player personnel process, and the latest news on the NFL Draft has the Raiders looking hard at quarterback Derek Carr over Johnny Manziel with the No. 5 pick.
Sam Farmer who covers the NFL for the Los Angeles Times did a mock draft and has the Raiders taking Carr with the No. 5 overall pick. There is more to that mock draft with Farmer just saying the Raiders are taking Carr because they need a quarterback at that spot.
The No. 5 pick seems high for Carr who has seen his stock drop a bit over the past few months, and the knock on Carr is his pocket presence is not good with the big finger being pointed at that Las Vegas Bowl where Carr was beat up with a pass rush that was not able to be stopped by his offensive line.
Carr has spoken to many NFL teams and who he has spoke with have downplayed that issue:
"You turn the senior year tape on and just off the top of my head I can think of ten times where I'm stepping into throws taking shots in the face," said Carr. "The championship game on third downs, we're converting. So, people are gonna say what they're gonna say because that's their job and that's what they wanna do but I've heard from GM's and coaches, it's not something that they're concerned about."
This makes sense because if Carr has a great offensive line he will look great as he did for most of his Fresno State career, and really any quarterback who has a solid offensive line can be productive.
The Raiders could be providing a smoke screen by saying they evaluate Carr over Manziel to possibly work on some sort of trade or it could be legit that the Raiders really do like Carr over Manziel, because this is the Raiders who were are talking about.
The draft can be a huge chess game when comments get floated out there legitimately or not, and just make other teams have a second thought about what players they like.