The Oakland Raiders hold three first round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft, and with all this speculation, the event can not get here soon enough.
There is less than two weeks until the 2019 NFL Draft, and the Oakland Raiders have been dominating the headlines as of late. Oakland holds three first round picks, including the No. 4 overall selection, and media experts have had them picking everything from an edge rusher, to a quarterback early on.
Some of the mock draft that include the Raiders taking a quarterback early, and even trading up for one, are just nonsense at this point. Sure, head coach Jon Gruden has been working out every quarterback he can get his hands on, but the organization has been consistent that Derek Carr is the quarterback moving forward.
For the Raiders, it makes sense to seem interested in the quarterback prospects in this draft class, as it makes their No. 4 overall pick that much more coveted by teams needing a quarterback. If the Raiders play their cards right, they should be able to get an elite edge rusher, their biggest need, with their first of three first rounders.
This offseason, Oakland has done a tremendous job bringing in talent in areas of need, and they have completely revamped the wide receiver group. Carr is coming off one of his best statistical seasons of his career, and there is no reason to doubt that he is going to be even more impressive in year two of Gruden’s offense.
Earlier this offseason, the Raiders pulled off a surprising move by bringing in a rookie general manager in Mike Mayock. While the move was a head-scratcher early on, Mayock has proved to be quite the asset in free agency, and with the trade for Antonio Brown, and the draft should be his specialty after serving as a draft analyst for years.
The next 11 days are going to go by in a flash, and that is a good thing, because once the first round is finally over, a lot of the speculation can go away. Oakland has done a nice job building this roster back up this offseason, and a solid draft could be the cherry on top of a complete rebuild in 2019.