Raiders draft 2024: Building a deep roster is the goal

Established starters at position groups shouldn’t prevent Las Vegas from adding more talent

Best player available, better known by its acronym BPA, is a buzzword you’ll see plenty as we careen towards the 2024 NFL Draft. A popular philosophy that’s often pointed to as a “proper” way to draft and build a team, the concept of taking the best available player when a team is on the clock has merit.

By taking the BPA, a team adds a talented prospect that can make the team better with a potential starter and/or quality depth. But when the metal meets the meat on draft day, the lines of best player available versus need is often blurred.

BPA is sound in theory, but sometimes, it isn’t put into practice.

With new general manager Tom Telesco in place now, it’s going to be intriguing to see the chief personnel man operate for the Las Vegas Raiders. Because if Telesco were to go BPA, then having an established starter at a position group shouldn’t preclude the Silver & Black from taking a talented prospect. Hypothetically, even though the Raiders have a supremely talented and elite edge rusher in Maxx Crosby, an ascending Malcolm Koonce in the same position group, and promising Tyree Wilson entering Year 2 of his young career, if an edge is the best player available, snatch them.

Some will find that a foolhardy exercise, and for good reason. Las Vegas has established starters at edge and the position group isn’t an area of need and the team has a finite number of draft selections (eight total, as it stands currently).

An argument can be made that the hypothetical above hits both BPA and need. In today’s pass happy NFL — with rules favoring the offense and often hindering the defense — having a stable of quality pass rushers is a need for all NFL teams. It gives defensive coordinators the ability to rotate the rushers and keep opposing offenses on their toes by not being predictable. Also, Koonce enters a contract year and may not live up to the eight-sack season he had in 2023 and/or get a contract extension from Las Vegas. And Wilson may not develop into an impact player the previous regime envisioned when he was taken with the seventh-overall selection in the 2023 draft.

So taking another edge prospect hedges bets while also hitting the goal of a deeper roster — which the Raiders don’t have currently — that can sustain unforeseen events such as injuries. Ditto for center, linebacker, defensive tackle, and safety prospects. While the team does have a starter or starters at those specific position groups, the depth behind them isn’t ideal.

That hypothetical above is intended to show how depth is valuable, but it also presents what can happen if a team has tunnel vision and blinders on. And let’s be real, a strict BPA route isn’t something NFL teams engage in.

The Raiders do have clear needs at offensive tackle (particularly right), quarterback, and cornerback to name a few. All three position groups are spots that head coach Antonio Pierce himself identified and spoken about during his various media engagements this offseason. Fortunately for Telesco and Pierce, there’s a high likelihood the duo will find themselves in a boon-type situation where the best player available also fills an area of need when the Raiders are on the clock.

And this goes beyond the first round. While the initial pick — the No. 13 overall pick (as it stands now) — will be a vital one for Las Vegas, the selections in the ensuing rounds are just as critical to both Telesco’s and Pierce’s tenure. While the Silver & Black have a storied history of more misses than hits with its opening-round picks, the team has historically found gems in the latter rounds that turned into quality starters — for the Raiders and other squads.

This current iteration of the Raiders — led by Telesco and Pierce — needs the offseason to be a jumping point/catalyst to a turnaround and the upcoming draft can bolster what’s already been done. The team made a big free agent splash by brining in defensive tackle Christian Wilkins with the intention of finally getting a disruptive presence in the middle that can not only exponentially increase the effectiveness of Mad Maxx, but make the entire Raiders defense better.

We have to wait a bit to see Telesco and crew in action draft weekend. That three-day affair doesn’t officially kickoff until Thursday, April 25. Between the time gap, we’ll see plenty of mock drafts, player profiles, and arguments about BPA and need. But I’m sure eyes will be glued to what the Raiders do in each and every round.

Because Las Vegas isn’t devoid of talent — far from it. But the Silver & Black isn’t a paragon of quality depth, either. And the Raiders can make tremendous headway into fixing that over three days in late April.