Name Game Is Shot in Dark When You Are Drafting No. 16 : Raiders: The team probably will go for the best athlete available in the draft but hopes to fill a need at the same time.

Quarterback Todd Marinovich and the Raiders made a nice first-round pairing during last year’s NFL draft. He wanted them; they wanted him.

For better or for worse.

Today, the Raiders will pick 16th in the first round, eight positions higher than a year ago, but they don’t appear as devoted to a particular player.

“It would be virtually impossible for me to tell you which side of the ball will be there on the 16th pick,” said Steve Ortmayer, Raider director of football operations.

The Raiders have needs but won’t sacrifice talent to address a specific concern.

As Ortmayer put it: “With the 16th pick, we will always pick a player, not a position.”

If the player happens to be a great athlete and also fills a need, so much the better. That could be the scenario if Virginia’s 300-pound offensive tackle, Ray Roberts, remains available.

The search for a right tackle is apparently on because of Steve Wright’s unfortunate last series--two penalties for 20 yards--during the Raiders’ 10-6 playoff loss to Kansas City in December.

The Raiders made a run at Cincinnati guard Bruce Reimers in Plan B and wanted to move him to right tackle alongside former teammate, guard Max Montoya.

Other possibilities include Eugene Chung of Virginia Tech and Washington’s Siupeli Malamala.

Defensive line is a Raider strength, yet the team is reportedly high on Clemson’s 340-pound Chester McGlockton.

“If he’s the best guy there, then we might do something like that,” Ortmayer said of McGlockton.

Defensive end Alonzo Spellman of Ohio State also has been mentioned as a possible choice.

With the draft lacking many top linebackers, the Raiders loaded up at the position in Plan B, signing Aundray Bruce, Anthony Bell and Niko Noga.

They are getting great reports on linebacker Mike Jones, who was allocated to the Sacramento Surge of the World League.

And if Houston quarterback David Klingler somehow slips to position 16 in the first round?

The Raiders have their quarterback of the future in Marinovich, but persistent off-the-field rumors threaten his future.

“We realized the situation when we drafted him,” Ortmayer said of Marinovich’s troubled past. “And I don’t think that’s changed at all.”

The Raiders selected Marinovich three months after his arrest for marijuana and cocaine possession. Misdemeanor charges were dropped this week, but ESPN recently reported Marinovich has tested positive for a banned substance and completed a six-week stint in a rehabilitation clinic.

Marinovich denies all charges, and the Raiders remain supportive.

“We feel like he’s on the right track,” Ortmayer said.

The Raiders’ staff, though, coached Klingler in the Senior Bowl.

“We’ve gotten to know him pretty well,” Ortmayer said.