How should the Las Vegas Raiders feel about their 2017 NFL Draft class after three years? We take a deep dive into it.
The Oakland Raiders went into the 2017 NFL Draft with a ton of momentum, as they were coming off one of the better seasons the team had put together in years. Making the playoffs for the first time since 2002, the Raiders seemed only a few pieces away from being a perennial playoff contender in the AFC, especially with how well quarterback Derek Carr played in 2016.
Carr led the Raiders to a 12-win season in 2016, leading late-game comebacks, while showing incredible poise in the pocket. With the most important position in sports thought to be taken care of, the Raiders entered the draft ready to fill the remaining holes on the roster, most importantly at cornerback, safety, and offensive tackle.
Unfortunately, the draft class proved to be one of the worst in team history, and only a few short years later, only two players even remain with the team.
Original Grade
FanSided: B+
“Oakland came into the 2017 NFL Draft looking to get better in their defensive backfield, and they did just that. They spent their first and second round picks on defensive backs, and it actually make be an area of strength for the first time in a long time this season.”
Draft Class
Round 1 (No. 24)
Gareon Conley
CB, Buckeyes
CURRENT TEAM: Houston Texans
Needing a true CB1 on the roster, the Oakland Raiders made Gareon Conley their first round pick back in 2017, and many felt he was the best overall cornerback in the draft class. Conley fell to the Raiders at No. 24 due to a sexual assault claim, but after running a polygraph test on him, the Raiders decided he was telling the truth, and selected him.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, Conley was bitten by the injury bug during his rookie season with the Silver and Black, and he ended his first year on injured reserve playing in only two games. In 2018, he became a starter for new head coach Jon Gruden, appearing in 15 games, and showing flashes of the kind of potential the organization saw in him when they made him a first round pick.
This past season, Conley was injured in Week 1, but ended up coming back to the lineup the following week, and was a full-time starter for the Raiders. However, Gruden and the staff grew tired of his inconsistent play, and being that he was not a pick of the current staff, they decided it was best to try and get some draft capital for him.
Conley was traded after the Raiders Week 7 matchup against the Green Bay Packers, as the Raiders shipped him to the Houston Texans. In a twist of fate, Conley’s first game with the Texans was against the Raiders, and he helped lead them to a victory over his former team down in Mexico.
Round 2 (No. 56)
Obi Melifonwu
S, Huskies
CURRENT TEAM: New England Patriots
Like Conley, Obi Melifonwu was brought in to bring not only youth to the Raiders secondary, but talent as well, as they also struggled at safety in 2016. That season, rookie Karl Joseph played in 12 games for the Raiders, and showed he could be a player at the NFL level, but there was not much talent behind him on the depth chart.
One of the bigger swing-and-misses of the Reggie McKenzie Era, Melifonwu would eventually latch on with the New England Patriots after being released by Oakland, and won a Super Bowl ring with the team. However, he was waived by the team, and then brought back on a futures contract, so the story is still to be told in terms of what he becomes at the NFL level.
Round 3 (No. 88)
Eddie Vanderdoes
DT, Bruins
CURRENT TEAM: Houston Texans
If you are starting to see a trend here, it is because there is one, as the Raiders third round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft would also see his career with the team end due to being injury-prone. Eddie Vanderdoes, a big defensive tackle from UCLA, would become a starter for the Raiders during his rookie season, and played well before an injury in Week 17 derailed his Raiders career.
Vanderdoes was signed by the Houston Texans and made his debut for them in December of this past season. He is a talented enough guy to stick around at the NFL level, and now that he is fully healed from his torn ACL, we will get to see how good of a player he can be.
Round 4 (No. 129)
David Sharpe
OT, Gators
CURRENT TEAM: Las Vegas Raiders
With an aging Donald Penn at left tackle, and playing at a very high level heading into 2017, the Raiders knew they had to do something in terms of depth behind him. Offensive tackle was one of the bigger needs on this roster moving forward, and that continued in 2018, when they drafted UCLA’s Kolton Miller with the No. 15 overall selection.
In 2017, it was David Sharpe from Florida who was brought in to provide depth behind Penn, and he would appear in five games, and take over for an injured Penn late in the season. However, the team did not see enough in him to keep him around, and he was waived by the team in September of 2018, before landing with the Houston Texans.
Round 5 (No. 168)
Marquel Lee
LB, Demon Deacons
CURRENT TEAM: Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders fifth round pick in 2017 was a good-looking middle linebacker from Wake Forest, a guy with a reputation of being a hard-hitting, athletic player. Marquel Lee was given the chance to earn a starting job with the team as a rookie, which he in fact earned, beating out veterans like Ben Heeney and Cory James.
Lee appeared in 13 games as a rookie, starting six, and looked to be someone this Raiders defense would be built around. In 2018, he played in all 16 games, making 10 starts, and the expectation was he would continue to mature in Year 3 this past season. Unfortunately, Lee was also bitten by the injury bug, and played in a career-low five games.
Round 7 (No. 221)
Shalom Luani
S, Cougars
CURRENT TEAM: Houston Texans
It is not often that a seventh-round pick makes the kind of impact Shalom Luani did in 2017, but the Raiders second safety selected in this draft class outplayed the one they took in the second round. The Raiders first drafted American Samoa-born player, Luani played in all 16 games as a rookie, making one start, and played a big role for the team on special teams.
The Raiders would end up trading Luani to the Seattle Seahawks for a seventh-round draft pick prior to the 2018 season, ending his tenure with the team for good. He spent 2018 with Seattle, and 2019 with the Los Angeles Chargers, before being released by the team and signed to the Houston Texans practice squad in December.
Round 6 (No. 203)
Jylan Ware
OT, Hornets
CURRENT TEAM: Free Agent
Ware was supposed to bring depth to the Raiders offensive line alongside fellow 2017 draftee David Sharpe, but he was cut by Gruden in Sept. 2018.
Round 7 (No. 253)
Elijah Hood
RB, Tar Heels
CURRENT TEAM: Los Angeles Wildcats (XFL)
Like Jylan Ware, running back Elijah Hood appeared in only one game for the Raiders during his rookie season in 2017, and never appeared in another NFL game. The Raiders waived and re-signed Hood multiple times during his rookie season, before signing him to a future’s contract after the 2017 campaign.
However, Hood would be claimed by the Carolina Panthers one day after being waived by the Raiders in May of 2018, and that would end his time with the team. Currently, Hood is playing for the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL.
Round 7 (No. 253)
Treyvon Hester
DT, Rockets
CURRENT TEAM: Washington Redskins
Hester was released by Gruden prior to the 2018 NFL season, as the team brought in Brian Price from the Dallas Cowboys to take his roster spot. He is still hanging on at the NFL level, spending the 2018 season with the Philadelphia Eagles, before landing in Washington with the Redskins this past season and appearing in a career-high 15 games.
Bottom Line
Only Marquel Lee and David Sharpe remain as current members of the now-Las Vegas Raiders, and neither of them are starting-caliber players at this point. Both provide depth at their respective positions, and while they are solid members of the roster, having only those two remaining from this entire draft class shows just how poor a job the franchise did that April.