2013 DBN Mock Draft: Oakland Raiders Select OT Luke Joeckel at No. 3

With the third pick in the 2013 Dawgs By Nature NFL Community Mock Draft, the Oakland Raiders select...

Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M

This selection and write-up was made by TuckJob:

This pick was made pretty easy by the previous picks. I had written a whole three paragraphs about how a slow secondary would be reason enough to draft a young, fast cornerback like Dee Milliner, but Buenos Aires Dawg stole my pick with an early selection and I had to rush back to my draft board. Luckily, with a player like Luke Joeckel still on the board and an offensive line that had trouble doing just about anything well, you have to start there in your re-build with the "best player available" at positions that impact the game.

Luke is not only arguably the best offensive tackle coming out of college this year, he is probably a top-3 player out of all the players in the draft. He also looked up to the Browns' Joe Thomas, which basically makes him a saint of Joesus. Right? Anyway, as I stated above, Oakland could basically draft a warm, living body and slot it in anywhere and it would be an improvement. It's my belief that to build a consistently winning team, you must start at the offensive line, as it protects and gives your most important player time to work his magic (especially the read option, because, you know, its magic)...

I don't think I'm a fan of the Raiders taking an offensive lineman this high. Jared Veldheer has been getting good reviews at left tackle for Oakland; in rating in 2012 performance, Pro Football Focus said that he was "emerging as one of the better left tackles in the league" and was bordering on the "locking left tackle" label. I don't think you draft Joeckel unless you project him as your left tackle. Veldheer could probably shift to right tackle, but something else can be addressed instead.

With that said, I see this as a dire situation for Oakland. They should probably draft a defensive lineman, but they desperately need help a new quarterback and some new guards. Is it too early to take Chance Warmack? Would you look like fools for taking him before Joeckel is off the board? The question about Geno Smith being a top-5 pick still lingers too. Trade downs aren't allowed, but I think Oakland would love to trade down in this scenario for someone who really needs Joeckel.

The Philadelphia Eagles are up next, led by Chalmdeezy.

2013 DBN Community Mock Draft Results (so far)