The first round of the 2020 NFL Draft is complete, and the Las Vegas Raiders improved both their offense and defense, but not with the prospects many were predicting.
The Las Vegas Raiders entered the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft with two first-round picks, and used them to address two positions of concern. However, just like last year’s draft, the selections were not what many expected, so the reaction from Raider Nation was up and down.
The draft board fell exactly as Raiders fans would have hope with all three of the top wide receivers still available, and in a bit of a surprise, Las Vegas went with speedster Henry Ruggs III. The team was certainly in need of speed and explosiveness, so the pick itself is not much of a shock, but many believed Ruggs’ teammate Jerry Jeudy and Oklahoma CeeDee Lamb were better prospects.
Ruggs’ production was certainly not at the level of those other two, but when we touched the ball, he made plays. Nearly 25% of his catches went for touchdowns during his three seasons at Alabama, and on this Raiders roster, he will slide right in atop the depth chart.
Now while the Raiders may have shocked some with the selection of Ruggs, they really turned some heads later in the round by taking Ohio State’s Damon Arnette with pick 19.
The picks:
- Round 1, pick 12: Henry Ruggs, WR, Alabama.
- Round 1, pick 19: Damon Arnette, CB, Ohio State.
Arnette made considerable improvements in his final year as a Buckeye, but his name was never really mentioned this high. There was some talk about him being at the end of the first, but most had him a second or third-rounder.
However, Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden seemed to think otherwise and pulled the trigger. Arnette isn’t a great athlete, but he can play in both man or zone along with versatility as a slot and outside corner.
Round 1 Grade
The Henry Ruggs pick makes a lot of sense, given the lack of speed and explosiveness the Raiders had on offense in 2019. However, the pick of Damon Arnette seems to be a reach, and it will be interesting to see the logic behind Mayock and Gruden’s decision.
Both players fill areas of need, so that is a positive, but it seems like there were better players at each position that could have been taken. The Raiders show once again that they are going to trust their evaluations and give little attention to what the consensus has to say, and hopefully the results can mirror the 2019 NFL Draft, where Maxx Crosby, Hunter Renfrow, and Josh Jacobs helped in a big way as rookies.