As the draft approaches, TFDS is making our way through the top at every position.  See past posts on the main page for a look at the top 5 prospects at each offensive position.  Today we start with the defense and with one of the most important defensive positions - defensive end.

The Raiders lacked a consistent pass rush last year in large part because they did not have great pass rushing talent at defensive end.  Many people believe the team may be interested in drafting an elite DE in the draft, especially if they stay in a base 4-3 alignment.

Defensive Ends:

1. Barkevious Mingo 6’5 240 lbs LSU
Prototypical in every way, Mingo has the speed, size and length to play in the NFL and possesses underrated strength. He’s a high-energy guy and his motor runs all the time.  He follows the ball until the whistle blows which gets him involved even on downs in which the ball is initially moving away from him.

He doesn’t have a lot of pass rush moves and he needs to learn how to quickly transition from speed to power and vice versa. He sometimes struggles with pad-level issues where he comes out of his stance too high but when he gets low and bends the edge, he can be devastating.

Unlike many pass rushers, Mingo was asked to spy QBs or cover RBs in the flat as opposed to rushing the passer on most downs. I think this harmed his stock as he didn’t accrue the same amount of pass rushing stats but the film shows that when he is assigned to rush the passer he’s consistently able to get pressure.

Mingo is underrated against the run but he does sometimes have a tendency to allow blockers to lock onto him when he comes out of his stance high. He’ll be able to hold up against the run if he adds 10-15 lbs and still be able to play up as a linebacker or as an end with his hand on the ground.
Pro Comparison: Aldon Smith.

As the Raiders start to transition from Greg Knapp’s offensive philosophies towards new coordinator Greg Olson’s, there are many questions about what sort of changes will be made.  Many of the details – Which plays does he use as his staples? What is his run blocking philosophy?  - will only be known through film study and then as we get a look at his vision of the team come training camp.
 

In the meantime it seemed worthwhile to get information on his play-calling tendencies in a statistical analysis.  To do this, I painstakingly went through 8 games – the first half of the 2011 season when he was the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Bucs – and tracked every pass and run to see Olson’s tendencies.

As we approach the NFL Draft in April, TFDS is ranking the top prospects at every position.  Today's focus, the last of the series of offensive positions, is on the Centers and Guards.  Two of the most under appreciated positions in the NFL, Guards and Centers rarely get the credit they deserve on a well working offensive line.

Not glory boys like offensive tackles, Centers and Guards are the players responsible for guarding the quarterback from the biggest threats he'll face - pressure up the middle from defensive tackles and blitzing linebackers or safeties.

Most defenses love a soft interior offensive line because it's much easier to rush up the gut than expend energy trying to go around a left tackle.  Here are some prospects the Raiders may consider as they look to solidify their offensive line play under new OL coach Tony Sparano

Centers/Guards:

1. Chance Warmack 6’2 322 lbs Alabama
Dominant is the word that comes to mind when I watch Warmack, who is probably the best college football player in the country.  Unfortunately, he’s not typically recognized as such because of the position he plays.  However, Warmack has dominated SEC defenses routinely as a member of Alabama’s line. 

He’s able to keep some of the best defensive linemen in college football at bay, locking on and eating them up with a vacuum grip.  Warmack has a great anchor and uses his hands well in pass protection and those skills transfer well to driving linemen back in the run game. 

Warmack will be great addition to any OL and although he played G at Alabama, Center may be a better position due to size.
Pro Comparison: Bobbie Williams

This week in Mobile, Alabama, 32 NFL teams will get an up-close look at some of the draft’s fastest rising prospects. None will get a closer look, however, than the North and South coaching staffs.

While Jim Schwartz and his Detroit Lions coaching staff will work with the South squad, Dennis Allen and the Raiders will be coaching the North

This could not come at a better time for the talent-thirsty Raiders as they quickly approach a crucial draft. While every draft is important, the Raiders have so many holes on their roster that they need to come away with players they can build around - especially with their first round selection, where the Raiders haven’t had much luck over the last decade.

The Senior Bowl will also allow Allen’s staff the opportunity to work with the less heralded draft prospects in hopes that they can find a few diamonds in the rough. Luckily for the Raiders, the North defense is absolutely stacked with players who look like NFL starters.

Here are some North squad draft prospects who could fit in with the Raiders:

The Raiders have reportedly made (but not yet officially announced) the somewhat surprising hire of Greg Olson as their new offensive coordinator.  Olson was surprising because he has had a few chances at being an offensive coordinator in the NFL already and has never showed any amazing success.

I wanted to see how Olson had done in his previous stops so I gathered the following data to see how he stacked up with both his predecessors and his successors.

First, for comparison purposes, here are the numbers for the last two years for the Raiders:

Now, here is a chart that shows how teams did before, during and after Greg Olson was their offensive coordinator. I also included some defensive numbers to see if there was any indication that his offense helped the defense get better.  There are some conclusions that will be drawn below but here is the data.

TFDS is going through every position in preparation for the 2013 NFL Draft in April.  Today, we are looking at the top prospects at offensive tackle.  While the Raiders have an above average tackle in Veldheer, they lack any great option to pair with him and many think that the Raiders may be in the market for a tackle in the draft either to put at right tackle or, possibly, to draft a new left tackle and shift Veldheer to the right side.

Here are my top 5 picks, in order, for the 2013 Draft offensive tackles.

Offensive Tackles:

1. Luke Joeckel 6’6 310 lbs Texas A&M
Joeckel looks like he can enter the NFL as a Pro Bowl caliber tackle straight away; he shows great athleticism, range and technique much in the same vein as high first round picks Joe Thomas and Jake Long. Has great burst and vision in running game, generating great push at the LOS while not allowing penetration into the backfield.

Joeckel gets to 2nd level well, opening lanes for running backs. His slick footwork and vision will make ZBS teams love him.  Joeckel has smooth sliding feet and a good hand punch out of his stance, then he anchors well against a power rush.  He also has the strength and ability to extend his long arms against a speed rusher who is trying to get outside him and direct the defender off of the QB. 

In the instances when he’s initially beaten at the snap, he shows the ability to recover well and lock back on to defender.  He needs to add some nastiness to his game and some overall strength but he’ll be able to bulk up in an NFL weight room and I think he is a better prospect then 2012 top tackle Matt Kalil.
Pro Comparison: Tyron Smith

UPDATED: With rumors that the Raiders either are interested or have interviewed former OC Marc Trestman and Greg Olson who was last Jacksonville's QB coach but has also served as an OC for several teams, I've updated the data, below, for comparison

With this week’s news that Mike Martz had interviewed for the Raiders offensive coordinator job I wanted to get some data on how Martz had done as a play-caller.  In gathering this data, I became interested in other candidates as well, so I gathered information on some of the other possible candidates and then, for comparison, I threw in data from the Raiders last two offensive coordinators, Greg Knapp and Hue Jackson, at the bottom.  Norv Turner is also included despite likely going to Cleveland to be their next OC.
 

The list below is the coach, year he called plays for the team and his title. For the purposes of this list I only included years in which they called plays (for example, Al Saunders was Hue Jackson’s OC in 2011 but it didn’t count for him because he didn’t call the plays).
 

The two numbers after the year are both based on what I consider the most important stat, points per game.  I dislike using the “total offense” stat because that is yards per game and there are some offenses that are very good at scoring and some that can generate a lot of yards but struggle to get into the end zone.  Obviously, the point of the offense is to score the most points, so I went with what I consider the most important stat.
 

Take a look through the information below. This is just data, it doesn’t take into account the talent of the players or any other additional considerations which obviously make a difference.  With this information, who would you want as the Raiders next OC?

After the year, the first number is where the offense ranked, based on points scored and the second number is the average points per game that year.