With The First Pick
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Tanoh Kpassagnon to Oakland Raiders in Round 2

By Carl Cockerham

Jan 26, 2017; Mobile, AL, USA; South squad offensive tackle Conor McDermott of UCLA (68) battles defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon of Villanova (92) during Senior Bowl practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Andrews-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 26, 2017; Mobile, AL, USA; South squad offensive tackle Conor McDermott of UCLA (68) battles defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon of Villanova (92) during Senior Bowl practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Andrews-USA TODAY Sports /
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Reggie McKenzie likes to reach for physical specimens in the second round. And Tanoh Kpassagnon is the guy he’ll reach for in 2017.

Oakland Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie has done well in the first round of the draft in his time. You can’t give him bad marks for D.J. Hayden because most of the whole first round was bad in 2013. He’s gone about his business by taking the highest graded player on his board.

In the second round, he does things a little differently with the exception of QB Derek Carr in 2014. He’ll usually take a chance on a player that’s a great athlete but has some type of flaw. In 2013, McKenzie chose OT Menelik Watson, an amature boxer and college basketball player.

His problem is that he only played two years of football before McKenzie drafted him. And after watching him last year, I think it’s safe to say that’s a failed experiment. Watson is still learning after four while getting massively overpaid by the Denver Broncos now.

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In 2015, McKenzie took DL Mario Edwards Jr. in the second round because of his freakish athleticism. Edwards is 6’3″, 280 pounds and ran a 4.84 at the combine to show his potential. His problem was that he played at over 300 pounds and did put up numbers at Florida State.

He looked like a terror in his rookie year then missed most of 2016 with injuries. Speaking of 2016, McKenzie took DL Jihad Ward, who’s pretty athletic for his size but not really a freak. At 6’5″, 300 pounds, he ran a 5.11 in the 40 and so far, he’s a dud.

This year, the apple of McKenzie’s eye is DL Tanoh Kpassagnon out of Villanova. Kpassagnon is very raw but he’s 6’7″, 290 pounds and ran a 4.83 40 at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine. Rumor has it that McKenzie would have reached for him in Round 1 had he ran in the 4.7s.

On most of the draft boards I’ve seen, he’s projected to go in the third or fourth round. So when McKenzie does his second-round reach this year, it will likely be for Kpassagnon. Raiders D-line coach Jethro Franklin is one of the best in the business so this could work!

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