The Shocking Truth Behind Kayden McDonald’s Potential Slide to Pick 36 in 2026 NFL Draft
Matt, With us starting the season with a new defense and new staff, not to mention a potential rookie QB, are you a proponent of building the team with one side of the ball in mind first, position by position or in a more haphazard piece by piece way. Do you expect, as a result, a D heavy draft or an O heavy draft, in other words
A: My bias says defense since I primarily focus on that side of the ball with my “Tape Don’t Lie” breakdowns and scouting reports at Bleacher Report. Also, I think there are a lot of good defensive prospects in this year’s class, at least more so than offensive.
From a team-building perspective, I’ve always felt like having an elite defense and a really good quarterback while sacrificing some talent at the other offensive positions is the way to go about creating a Super Bowl contender. The offense controls where the ball goes, and a good quarterback can make up for some talent deficiencies by attacking a defense’s weakness, so the latter is more of a team game.
For example, if a defense has 10 good players but one bad corner, guess where the ball is going. The offense can pick on that corner, whereas the offense can limit how many touches a subpar skill player gets or choose not to run behind a bad run-blocking offensive linemen, etc. Also, a quarterback who makes quick decisions and gets the ball out can hide or mask the offensive line’s pass-blocking deficiencies.
Q: Any rumors of the Raiders trading Michael Mayer (contract year) or Jackson Powers-Johnson or anyone else for draft choices?
A: I get questions like these a lot and completely understand where they’re coming from. But I want to make sure I’m transparent with y’all; I don’t have any sources, inside information or anything like that with the Raiders or any team for that matter. I get a few tidbits here and there, but never report them because I’m not that interested in being an insider. I like doing the analysis stuff much more than the breaking news game.
So, I’ll slightly tweak your question and share a few thoughts on who I can see being on the trade block during the draft.
Mayer is an interesting one because, as you said, he is entering a contract year. But Klint Kubiak likes to use a lot of 12 personnel, and I don’t think Mayer has much trade value right now. I’d imagine Kubiak has the former Notre Dame tight end in his plans for next season, and if the Raiders do want to move on from him, it’d be better to wait until the season and hope that he starts hot to be dealt at the trade deadline.
I have a hard time seeing another team giving up anything more than a seventh-round pick for a guy who has had 788 receiving yards in three seasons and will be a free agent in the offseason. But that could change if Mayer comes firing out of the gates in September and October, and a contender has an injury or just needs a tight end.
I’d be pretty surprised if Powers-Johnson gets traded. Spytek seems to like him a lot at guard, and I’d be willing to bet that the coaching staff thinks JPJ will reach his potential now that he only has to worry about playing one position with Tyler Linderbaum coming into town.
A few players who I could see being on the trade block during the draft: Jack Bech, Dont’e Thornton Jr., Tre Tucker, Tyree Wilson and Adam Butler.
I’d like to keep Bech, but with how many wide receivers Las Vegas met with during the pre-draft process, it certainly feels like Kubiak isn’t thrilled with what he has in that position group. Plus, Thornton isn’t a good scheme fit, while Tucker is entering a contract year and is a very similar player to free-agent signing Jalen Nailor.
Wilson is also on an expiring contract and likely won’t have his fifth-year option picked up next month. So, his days in Vegas could be numbered anyway; it’s just a matter of how big or small that number is. Meanwhile, Butler is on the wrong side of 30, and his contract has an out in it next offseason. Especially for a rebuilding team, that’s a tough combination to justify keeping him around if a trade offer is on the table.
Q: What team areas do the Raiders need to get younger and cheaper through the draft?
A: To be honest, I think they’ve done a pretty good job at getting younger this offseason, where the majority of the starters and key contributors are going to be in their 20s next season.
Granted, the edge group is older with Maxx Crosby (28, turns 29 in August), Kwity Paye (27, turns 28 in November) and Koonce (27, turns 28 in June). So, there is some room for youth in that position group. Nose tackle, too, since Butler is currently listed as the starter. But that’s more of a hole on the roster/depth chart than an age issue.
The defensive backs are getting up there as well. Taron Johnson will be 30 in July, Jeremy Chinn just turned 28, Isaiah Pola-Mao turns 27 in June and Eric Stokes’ 27th birthday was last month. Even Darien Porter is older for a second-year pro, turning 25 in January. So, that’s another spot where some youth could be added.
But overall, this is already a pretty young roster with only a few dinosaurs. Well, Kirk Cousins is on it, but I don’t think you need me to tell you that a younger quarterback will be in town soon…
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
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