Toned-up rookie David Sharpe hoping to earn left tackle snaps with Raiders

Before being drafted by the Raiders, rookie offensive tackle David Sharpe blocked for Luke Del Rio, son of head coach Jack, in college at Florida. While visiting the Bay Area recently, it didn’t take Luke long to recognize a difference in Sharpe.

“The first thing he said was, ‘Wow, (Sharpe’s) body looks a lot better,’” Jack Del Rio said.

Sharpe, who has played sparingly as a rookie but is a candidate to replace Donald Penn at left tackle this week, offered a fundamental reason for the change.

“It started out with eating better, man,” Sharpe said Tuesday. “Eating better was big.”

For the 22-year-old, that meant addressing some of the habits he’d picked up in college.