With just a month to go until the 2021 NFL draft, the needs for the Raiders couldn’t be any clearer. The team needs a starting right tackle, another cornerback and a safety. However, deciding which need is the biggest is up for debate.
In a recent article by ESPN’s 32 beat writers, each writer was asked to give their biggest question mark on the roster heading into the draft. For the Raiders and Paul Gutierrez, that was at the safety position. Here is what he had to say about the position as we stand right now:
“But this much is no laughing matter — are the Raiders comfortable with Jeff Heath and Dallin Leavitt as their two free safeties? Drafting a safety at No. 17 overall would be intriguing, but it would also be counterproductive for an already-young unit that badly needs, again, veteran leadership on the back end.”
The Raiders are in a bit of a bind here. They have a huge need at free safety, but they really don’t need another young player in the secondary and the draft class isn’t all that top-heavy at safety.
So is the plan to heave Heath or Leavitt start there and use their draft resources on other positions? Or will they take a safety inside the top-100 picks with the intention of starting him? That all remains to be seen, but the safety position is arguably the biggest weakness on the team heading into the month of May.
