Oakland Raiders--Monitoring Team Needs--Free Agency to the 2009 Draft

by Jeremy Bolander on Feb 28, 2009 1:58 PM EST in Mocking the AFC West

Keeping track of a team's dynamic roster gain/loss throughout the offseason is one of the keys to understanding their draft day moves and choices. Enter Monitoring Team Needs, an at-a-glance way of checking up on your team's latest roster flux, as we count down through Free Agency, and into the days before the 2009 Draft.

Below is a table that breaks down this roster flux, showing who has come and gone, as well as updating the neediest areas of the team and some of the top names that have a good chance of being available when they pick in the Draft. Draft prospects are linked to their Mocking the Draft Profiles and any names or positions highlighted in bold should be considered either to be positions of particular need and emphasis, or players of particular relevance and interest to the team's situation. Below the chart we will discuss some of the names and situations described, and as always, you can join in on the discussion in the comments.

See you below the fold!


OAKLAND RAIDERS 2008 Record and Rank: 5-11 3rd place	Team Needs	Likely Draft Targets (rd)
	LT, WR, CB, DE, DT, ILB, TE, OLB, FS	OT, Andre Smith, Alabama
Free Agents Acquired	Current Free Agents	Free Agents/Players Lost
DE Derrick Gray (res/fut) P Ricky Schmitt (res/fut) CB Nmamdi Asomugha CB Chris Johnson	QB Marques Tuiasosopo UFA WR Drew Carter UFA WR Johnnie Morant UFA WR Ashley Lelie UFA TE Tony Stewart UFA TE Ben Troupe UFA *P Shane Lechler UFA(franchised)** OG Cooper Carlisle UFA C Jake Grove UFA OL Chris Morris RFA LS Jon Condo ERFA* DL William Joseph UFA LB Sam Williams UFA LB John Alston RFA* LB Rickie Brown RFA * LB Isaiah Ekejiuba UFA CB Justin Miller UFA CB Duane Starks UFA FS Rashad Baker UFA	FB Justin Griffith (cut) WR Ronald Curry (cut) OT Kwame Harris (cut) DE Kalimba Edwards (cut) FS Gibril Wilson (cut)

Apparently RB Michael Bush is being shopped around. The Raiders spent all of last year overloaded at the RB position, unable or unwilling to even activate Bush, despite his full recovery from an injury.
The Raiders need to target offensive line heavily. Refusing to resign UFA OG Cooper Carlisle and allowing underacheiver OT Kwame Harris to walk have left only two entrenched starters on the offensive line. C Jake Grove has been getting heavy contract talks from the team, but nothing is for sure yet. He did a great job of coming back from knee surgery, and could be a key piece of the line going forward. Regardless of signing him, Oakland will need to look at all three positions on the O-line in the coming days. Names floating around the complex are OT Marvel Smith from the Steelers and OT Khalif Barnes form the Jaguars. If the Raiders can pick up either of these guys (and then move OT Mario Henderson over to RT) they could be in a prime position to target a guy like Alex Mack, California, but they could also have their pick of whichever top tackles on the board fall.