The Oakland Raiders coaching staff got great access to the 2019 draft class by coaching in the Senior Bowl, and it netted them some UDFA gold.
The Oakland Raiders coaching staff was picked to coach in the Senior Bowl a few days after the hiring of general manager Mike Mayock. Having the ability to coach the best senior prospects in college football is quite the task, but it is also a gift that has netted the Raiders some incredible undrafted free agents this past week.
Jon Gruden and the Raiders staff took control of the North team, and led them to victory over the South team in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. While Gruden is the kind of man who will take any victory he can get, he made the game about his beloved Raiders, sticking Raiders logos on the helmets of players after they made big plays in the game.
Little did he know that those moments with those kids would enable him to find some absolute gems when the 2019 NFL Draft was over. Once the draft ends, teams can sign whoever they want, and the Raiders coaching staff went to work, getting ten players who certainly deserve a shot at making the team.
Of those ten, three of them came from the North team, and all three have a legitimate shot at making the Raiders 53-man roster this season. Wide receiver Keelan Doss is an Alameda native, and was coveted by over half the NFL after not being drafted, but he decided to don the Silver and Black.
In addition, Notre Dame linebacker Te’Von Coney and Wisconsin fullback Alec Ingold are two guys who have NFL potential, and will get every opportunity to make this Raiders roster this summer. Remember, players can sign with whoever they want as an undrafted free agent, and they choose the Raiders.
In total, seven players who participated in that game are now members of the Oakland Raiders, and Gruden did not coach a single player he drafted.
In fact, the players who played in the game that the Raiders actually drafted all came from the South Team, who Gruden and his North team beat in the game. Overall, coaching the event gave the Raiders staff incredible access to the players, and in the end, helped them land some UDFAs that could make the team in 2019.