Raiders news: Jon Gruden expecting big things from 2020 draft class

The Las Vegas Raiders got incredible returns from their rookies in 2019 and Jon Gruden is expecting more of the same from the 2020 draft class

The Las Vegas Raiders 2019 draft class was arguably one of the best in franchise history. Every single pick with the exception of seventh round pick Quinton Bell made a positive impact on the Raiders 2019 season with some making huge splashes. Even safety Johnathan Abram was instrumental in the Week 1 win over the Denver Broncos before missing the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

It may be unfair to place the same expectations on the 2020 draft class but as the saying goes, shoot for the moon and you might end up among the stars. Speaking of stars, the Raiders believe they drafted gamechangers in every round of the 2020 draft. The crown jewels of the draft class are undoubtedly Henry Ruggs III and Damon Arnette but head coach Jon Gruden is just as high on the rest of the youngsters.

In an interview with Jerry McDonald of The Mercury News, Gruden was asked if he believes that all seven of the picks, given that they are all in top 139 picks, can contribute right away. In his enthusiasm, Gruden cut off the interviewer and said the following:

"“Forget making the team, we think all seven of them can contribute. You look in the fourth round a guy like (Tanner) Muse from Clemson. (Isaiah) Simmons got all the ink, for good reason, he played several positions. But so did Muse. Hell, I’m watching Alabama play Clemson two years ago for all the marbles, and in goal line and in short-yardage, Simmons isn’t even on the field. Muse is. He wasn’t even playing on first down in some of the personnel groupings that Alabama put out there, but Muse was.”“We’re excited about the other kid from Clemson, (John) Simpson. He’s played a lot of football at Clemson on a good offensive team. He’s smart, he’s mature, he’s got length. We like (Bryan) Edwards. I’ve had a lot of luck at South Carolina. Got to coach Sterling Sharpe. Got a chance to coach Robert Brooks. This guy here, Edwards, he is a physical guy. He is a good player. When healthy, when he gets that ankle right, he’ll prove it.”Source: The Mercury News"

Two things that stood out during the interview

The two points that stand out are regarding Tanner Muse and Bryan Edwards. Muse has been compared to Isaiah Simmons who went eight overall to the Arizona Cardinals as hybrid safety/linebacker. Muse has some similar physical traits to Simmons and they ran similar 40 times (4.41 vs 4.39) but Simmons is a more dynamic athlete. As Gruden points out however, Muse was preferred over Simmons in big spots for Clemson and that could translate well to his play in the NFL.

Regarding Bryan Edwards, Gruden seems to be just as high on him as he is on Henry Ruggs. Edwards is a completely different receiver than Ruggs and is more in the Keyshawn Johnson mold who Gruden had great success with. Hopefully Gruden’s relationship with Edwards will be a little less contentious than the one he had with Keyshawn.

As The Mercury News pointed out, all of the Raiders draft picks were in the fourth round or earlier so it is reasonable to expect that they all make the team at the very least. Something has to go very wrong for a player selected in the first four rounds of the draft to not be given a chance to prove himself in his rookie season with the team that drafted him.

It should come as no surprise that the optimistic Gruden is high on the rookies that he helped draft but given the track record, albeit in a small sample size, that the Gruden-Mayock combo have so far, Raider Nation should be just as excited as they are.