Oakland Raiders Film Room: 2019 NFL Draft First Round picks

Round 1, Pick No. 27: Johnathan Abram, S, Mississippi State

Mayock used the teams 27th overall pick to grab 22-year old safety Johnathan Abram out of Mississippi State. This 6’0″ and 205 pound missile will make some highlight hits this season and hopefully they don’t end with penalty flags littering the field. Abram is a bit of a throwback to days of former safety’s patrolling the middle of the field and annihilating anything that moved.

His unrelenting physicality is the first thing that really pops on tape. He could stand to wrap up more often, runners in the NFL do not tend to go down as easy as they do in college. Johnathan is a well rounded prospect who has the range to play up high as his 4.45 time in the 40-yard dash can attest.

He has more than enough strength to play in the box and is fluid enough to play man coverage.

Abram consistently showed he could stack and shed blocks and can be counted on in blitz situations even notching 5 sacks over his last two seasons.

He is more than willing to come up and tackle a running back as evidenced by his 197 total collegiate tackles. His number is going to pop up in the back field this season. He has 15.5 total tackles for loss but 14 of them came just last year. If nothing else, fans are going to love his aggressive nature.

The first round of the 2019 NFL Draft is in the books. Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden did a good job of bringing in some prospects that filled obvious roles. They may not have been the most flashy names on the draft board but this exercise is about building a roster. They have 6 more rounds and currently five more picks to make. If they are anything like tonight’s choices, expect some more tough and physical players.