2015 DBN Mock Draft: Oakland Raiders Select WR Amari Cooper at No. 4

With the fourth pick in the DBN 2015 NFL Mock Draft, the Oakland Raiders select...

Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama

The selection and write-up were made by makeaplay59:

I was really tempted to draft DT Leonard Williams from USC or DE Dante Fowler, Jr. from Florida. The Raiders need help at DE, a position that they only got 7 sacks from last season, which was lowest in the league. A good pass rusher opposite Khalil Mack would help their defense tremendously. However, with the addition of DT Dan Williams and a good chance of getting a quality player among the second tier of pass rushers with their second round pick (Harold, Orchard, Kikaha, Hunter), I gave the position a pass.

Wide receiver is such a position of need. They need weapons. I am not nearly as high on Derek Carr as other DBNers. At least the Raiders know who they are starting the year with and plan to be their QB of the future, though. Give him some weapons and see what he can do. I rank Cooper, White, and Parker very closely, but chose to go with the "safest" pick here. A larger sample size of consistent production and the ability to do everything at an above average level led me to choose Amari Cooper. His ceiling may not be as high as the other two receivers, but I think his floor is higher. This pick seems to be the consensus among Raider fans an analysts alike. Give Carr a guy who can run good routes and catch the ball as a safety valve and see how much it helps out their offense in year 2 of Carr's development.

I got a little tired of Derek Carr being hyped up so much last season too. In the Raiders' first win of the season over the Chiefs, though, I saw some impressive qualities, and despite having very few weapons on offense, he threw for 21 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions as a rookie. Not bad. I still think Oakland is in a bit of a bind because of how many washed up free agents they signed last offseason, meaning there isn't a clear cut "offense" or "defense" pick here. They have a variety of needs.

The Washington Redskins are up next, led by michael.hamper.

2015 DBN Community Mock Draft Results (so far)