ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -The Oakland Raiders started the second day of the NFL draft with the same strategy they used in the first: addressing a leaky run defense. They used their third round pick to do what was expected since last year by taking an offensive lineman Friday.
After trading down five spots in two separate trades, the Raiders drafted Texas defensive tackle Lamarr Houston with the 12th pick of the second round.
They followed that up by taking offensive tackle Jared Veldheer of Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan in the third round. That’s the highest draft position for a Division II player since defensive end Lamar King of Saginaw Valley was taken in the first round by Seattle in 1999.
Houston will team with middle linebacker Rolando McClain, who was taken eighth overall in the first round, to try to upgrade one of the biggest weaknesses in recent years for Oakland.
worst run defense in the league over the past seven seasons, allowing NFL-worsts of 143.7 yards rushing per game and 146 touchdowns on the ground – 15 more than the second-worst team, St. Louis. The Raiders finished 29th in run defense last season, allowing 155.5 yards per game.
Those problems have played a key part in the team’s run of seven straight seasons of at least 11 losses – the worst such stretch in NFL history. The Raiders are 29-83 since going to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season, the second-worst record in the NFL in that span.
“I’m bringing a physical attitude,” Houston said. “A physical attitude, someone whose motor is high and ready to play football. So I’m excited about trying to change the face of the Raiders defense.”
The Raiders have also placed a priority on finding players with winning pedigrees, adding a pair of players so far who played in the BCS national championship game last season. Houston had 10 tackles and a sack in Texas’ 37-21 loss to McClain and Alabama.
Houston was a starter his final three seasons at Texas. He had 14 career sacks and 25 tackles for losses, playing both defensive end and tackle under defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.
et ready to go.”
It’s the second straight year that coach Tom Cable talked up the offensive line prospects in a draft only to pass on picking any of them early. Oakland drafted receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and safety Mike Mitchell with its first two picks last year, bypassing the offensive line entirely.
The Raiders waited until the third round to make a move for an offensive lineman and found one from an unusual spot. They bypassed workout warrior Bruce Campbell, who many people had projected to go to Oakland in the first round because of his fast 40 time, to take a small-college player who was selected to the AP Little All-American team his senior season.
Veldheer has NFL size, standing 6-foot-8, 312 pounds, and is considered to have good footwork. But he will face a much stiffer level of competition in the NFL than he did at Hillsdale. That might make it difficult to step in right away for a team looking for immediate help at right tackle.
“I’m going to go out there and work my butt off for that team and bring that hard-work mentality from the weight room onto the field,” Veldheer said. “I’m going to get my nose in that playbook and try to contribute to the team the best I can.”
l, who was picked in the second round by Green Bay in 1972.
The last offensive lineman drafted out of Hillsdale was Howard Mudd, a ninth-rounder by San Francisco in 1964. Mudd went on to be one of the league’s top offensive line coaches with Indianapolis.
Langston Walker, Khalif Barnes and Erik Pears are expected to compete at the right tackle spot for Oakland.
The Raiders still have six picks remaining in this draft. They added two third-day picks by moving down twice in the second round, acquiring a fifth-rounder from Tampa Bay to move down three spots and then a sixth-rounder from New England to drop two more spots.
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