NFL Draft 2019 Results: Analysis on all Oakland Raiders draft picks

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BATON ROUGE, LA – OCTOBER 20: Johnathan Abram #38 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs breaks up a pass intended for Derrick Dillon #19 of the LSU Tigers during the second half at Tiger Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

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

To break the trend of players who participated in the national championship comes safety Johnathan Abram of Mississippi State. Abram’s selection at 27th overall likely means the end of Karl Joseph’s tenure as the long-term answer with the Oakland Raiders.

Mike Mayock during a presser was questioned about Joseph’s fifth year option and he sounded less than enthusiastic about it.

A bit strange that they would let Joseph walk since Abram and Joseph are similar safeties. Both players are bulls who like to come down to the box and stuff a play. Abram may have the edge when it comes to covering, but Joseph has never had the pleasure of playing high safety. Clearly Jon Gruden and his staff believe the upside is much greater with Abrams.

Regardless, for this 2019 season having Abram’s out there means he has a shot to overtake Joseph and even Erik Harris.

Abram can come down from a natural safety position quickly on any runs or underneath routes, however that can also be his Achilles heel in coverage. Abram will be a contributor on the defense and if he starts to get the hang of things I would expect him to start seeing some starting or at least heavy rotation action.

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