It would be fantastic if Saquon Barkley fell to the Raiders at No. 9 or No. 10. To be fair, that is probably not happening. He could very well be the first player taken off the board. Barkley could be a lock for a top-four pick, as the Cleveland Browns, the New York Giants and the Indianapolis Colts could all use his services.
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To put it bluntly, Barkley is this year’s Leonard Fournette, Ezekiel Elliott and Todd Gurley, meaning he has obvious Pro Bowl talent as a rookie and should be a lock to be a top-10 pick without hesitation. The bigger question is if he would even be available for the Raiders picking at No. 9 or No. 10. Furthermore, is he worth trading up for?
Since the Raiders don’t need a quarterback, it’s hard to justify the Silver and Black moving up in the draft process to take anybody. That being said, Barkley is the type of pro prospect where that merits some consideration. Truth be told, he will be the fist skill position player taken in the draft and is probably going top eight. Cleveland, New York, Indianapolis, the Denver Broncos, the New York Jets and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t all going to pass on him.
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Should that be the case, Oakland could absolutely get him at No. 9, as the Chicago Bears picking at No. 8 are all good at running back with Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. It’s more likely than not Barkley is playing for somebody else in 2018, but he’d be the star bell-cow back the Raiders would love to feature in their backfield for years to come.