Reggie sees the teams needs and weaknesses the same way the fans do...its pretty obvious ...so many times teams make moves that leave every single fan scratching their heads ....not so the last 2 years ...thank god we have someone who is in touch with the fans ...and reality ...i have complete faith he will make us all proud at this years draft
Agree. I don't think Reggie has anything to prove to me, Raiders fans, the NFL, or anyone regarding the way he has approached rebuilding this team. He turned a team with no 1st or 2nd round picks and zero identity when he took over in 2012 to a team solidly poised to break out this year and set up to be contenders for years following. The salary cap situation is completely in our favor given the way he let go of dead weight and built with an eye towards both present and future. Always the chance we don't live up to everyone's (including our own) high expectations, but that won't be because of McKenzie. He deserved every kudos he gets.
Taking all that for what it's worth, I do want to see McKenzie be more consistent in his approach since 2014 and carry that into this year's draft. Let's not forget Reggie hasn't always made the best moves in his Raider career. It's impossible to hit on all (arguably most) picks in a draft, but Reggie has made mistakes. The good thing is he has seemed to learn from them and is able to move on, which is key, and exactly what I'd like to see Reggie continue to do consistently.
The past few years we were definitely drafting for need, had high picks and had the right players fall to us. We are now not in such a dire situation and the results of this draft will show more how McKenzie is an evaluator of talent, and is able to build players from within based on that talent.
In 2012, we addressed a poor secondary bringing in FA CBs (Spencer and Bartell). We had no picks through round 3, and the only real highlight was Tony Bergstrom, who was more of a backup but did admirably when called upon.
In 2013, Reggie didn't exactly help the cap situation, bringing in Roach, Burnett, and Kaluka Maiava for ~9M guaranteed. He then drafted Hayden (yet to prove himself and more likely a liability), Menelik Watson (huge talent but not oft on the field given injuries), and Mychael Rivera (again fantastic talent, but never truly broke out and was made obsolete in last year's draft). On the plus side -- Latavius Murray. Nice.
In 2014, Reggie added Penn and Howard -- super solid. The signing of Tuck, Woodley, and Antonio Smith weren't great in that they were only stopgap solutions (and not as effective as one would hope), but you understood why Reggie did it -- bring in cheaper, veteran leadership and fill badly needed holes in our D. Choosing Mack then Carr began the run we see today, but to me, both were no-brainers at the pick spot based on our need. Reggie can be lauded for making these picks -- I view them as the obvious ones and was glad he didn't mess them up.
In 2015, Reggie nabbed a starter in Hudson, and got talent in Allen, Lofton, and Dan Williams. Yes, many aren't on the team anymore and arguably didn't live up to expectations, but the talent was there. Cooper was the right pick for us based on both need and talent, and we'll see if Mario can overcome injury to live up to the amazing talent he was coming out of college. Feliciano did well when called upon. Jury is out on Heeney.
In 2016, we're rocking house in FA, shoring up a lot of need. We have some more, and can address them in the draft, but we're don't purely need to draft from need. In the above, Reggie has shown a steady learning curve and is trending better with each year -- just hoping he keeps this trend consistent and makes BPA selections that show he can continue to evaluate talent correctly where the team needs it.
good stuff as always in here. 
