Draft successfully in 2019 and 2020
The future of the Oakland Raiders will all come down to the next two Aprils, as the team holds five first round picks in the 2019 and 2020 NFL Drafts. In 2019, their first pick will come at No. 4 overall, followed by No. 24 (Chicago Bears), and No. 27 (Dallas Cowboys) to round out the first. In total, they hold six of the first 100 selections.
Oakland replaced general manager Reggie McKenzie with Mike Mayock this offseason, bringing in a former draft analyst to be their new GM. The hope is that Mayock can work his magic and hit on most of the team’s draft picks, as that is likely the reason he was given the chance to be a first-time general manager in the first place.
Mayock has said that Gruden will have final say in terms of the roster, which is kind of scary, but Chucky had a pretty solid first draft this past April. If Oakland can bring in some guys to really fix their deficiencies over the next two drafts, they could revamp their roster in a hurry, and suddenly be one of the better teams in the conference.