INDIANAPOLIS — Coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek, five weeks into their tenures with the Raiders, are headed to the NFL scouting combine this week.
Their primary focus will be on the 329 draft prospects on hand, including UNLV wide receiver Ricky White III and linebacker Jackson Woodard. They have two months before they’re on the clock in the first round April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Carroll and Spytek will also prepare for free agency, which begins March 10. That means getting a gauge of the market for their own pending free agents like linebacker Robert Spillane and safety Tre’von Moehrig, as well as potential targets like quarterback Sam Darnold and guard Trey Smith.
Carroll and Spytek are scheduled to hold news conferences Tuesday to kick off combine week. Here are some other items on their to-do list:
Evaluate quarterbacks
The Raiders have plenty of roster issues to sort out, but everything starts at quarterback.
Carroll and Spytek will not limit themselves to the draft in search of an upgrade. They could, in an ideal world, use free agency for a short-term solution and then later pick a prospect they hope to develop into a long-term starter.
The two will use combine week to talk with agents and team executives to determine what the free-agent market is expected to look like. They could learn what Darnold, as well as other potential options like Aaron Rodgers, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, who won Super Bowl 48 with Carroll and the Seahawks, hope to earn on a new deal.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is under contract but has been given permission to speak with other teams, is another person of interest.
The Raiders, while doing their due diligence on veterans, will also learn more about this year’s draft class. The consensus top two quarterback prospects are Cam Ward of Miami and Shedeur Sanders of Colorado. Other passers available include Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Jalen Milroe (Alabama), Tyler Shough (Louisville), Dillon Gabriel (Oregon) and Will Howard (Ohio State), who just won the College Football Playoff national championship with Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
The team holds the sixth pick in the draft and it’s unclear whether Ward or Sanders will be available there. The Raiders must figure out whether one of those two is expected to fall to them and, if not, if it’s worth trading up to get them.
The team could also decide to wait on a quarterback if it ends up getting excited about Dart, Milroe, Howard or another quarterback’s potential.
Check out running back class
The Raiders’ running game was the NFL’s worst last year.
Running back Zamir White wasn’t reliable, while veteran Alexander Mattison wasn’t much better. The good news is the Raiders should have plenty of opportunities to upgrade this offseason.
This year’s running back class is expected to be one of the best in the past 10 years. It’s led by Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, the Heisman Trophy runner-up. He may be considered a reach at No. 6, but Carroll and Spytek believe having a powerful run game is important.
Other running backs the Raiders will be observing in Indianapolis include Omarion Hampton (North Carolina), Kaleb Johnson (Iowa), Dylan Sampson (Tennessee), Cam Skattebo (Arizona State), Devin Neal (Kansas), Bhayshul Tuten (Virginia Tech) and Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, who Kelly is plenty familiar with.
Keeping an eye on defense
The Raiders have 17 pending unrestricted free agents this offseason, nine of which are defensive players.
The team needs to figure out how to reload on that side of the ball.
The Raiders are expected to prioritize new deals for Spillane and Moehrig. They’ll use the combine to figure out their price tags, then see how much other pending free agents like cornerback Nate Hobbs, linebacker Divine Deablo, safety Marcus Epps, defensive ends Malcolm Koonce and K’Lavon Chaisson and defensive tackles Adam Butler and John Jenkins are looking for.
The Raiders will also keep a close eye on the defensive players in this year’s draft to see who could step in and replace some of the production they may lose in free agency. This year’s defensive line class is considered deep, though a top cornerback prospect like Michigan’s Will Johnson could appeal to Carroll at sixth overall.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
