After going offense for three of the first four picks at last month’s Draft, the Raiders looked like they were making building the offense around Derek Carr into the theme of this year’s draft class. But beginning in the fifth round, the Raiders made a run on linebackers, taking three linebackers with three consecutive selections before taking another offensive player. The first of those three was Kansas linebacker Ben Heeney.
After releasing veteran mike backer Nick Roach – who had missed the entire 2014 season with a concussion – many observers thought the Raiders would address the middle linebacker position in the draft with a player like Erick Kendricks or Denzel Perryman.