The Las Vegas Raiders made their most surprising pick of the 2024 NFL Draft thus far when they selected offensive tackle Delmar Glaze out of Maryland in the third round on Friday night.
While the offensive tackle who some believe could play guard makes sense from a needs standpoint, taking Glaze in Round 3 can be considered a reach. After all, some experts had him going no earlier than Round 5, and our own Dharya Sharma thought he wouldn't come off the board until the late fourth round, at the earliest (Related: Grade for Glaze pick).
After making the pick, Telesco went into detail about what he likes about the Maryland product.
"Another young guy, 21 years old," Telesco said, per The Athletic's Vic Tafur. "But a lot of versatility; we see him as a tackle right now. He's played both left and right. Probably see him more on the right side at tackle right now. He's got some possible guard in the future maybe, but the flexibility is really nice for all of these guys. Typically, you're dressing eight offensive lineman, the more they can do the better because you know there are going to be injuries during the year. But we see him more as a right tackle. Big frame, long arms, really productive college player. He blocked the guy in front of him really consistently."
The other player Telesco is talking about is Oregon interior lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson, who has the ability to play both guard and center, although the Raiders clearly have him pegged as a guard after announcing him as such following the pick. They also reportedly reached out to center Andre James to assure him that Powers-Johnson wasn't drafted to take his job.
