Las Vegas Raiders revamp secondary in CBS 2020 NFL re-draft
By Brad Weiss
The Las Vegas Raiders did not get much out of their two first-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, as Henry Ruggs III struggled with consistency, and Damon Arnette struggled to stay on the field. While they will be key to this team’s future, the 2020 season was hopefully an aberration, as so many other rookies succeeded in Year 1 at the professional level.
Recently, Chris Trapasso from CBS Sports put together a re-draft of the 2020 NFL Draft’s first round, and in it, the Raiders address their secondary.
Raiders add help in the secondary with both first-round picks
In fact, the Raiders used both first-round picks on the defensive backfield, not just the No. 19 selection, which they used to bring in Damon Arnette, a cornerback from Ohio State. They do select a cornerback, but it is instead at No. 12, adding Cameron Dantzler, a player who played in 11 games this past season, had a terrible neck injury but was still named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
Dantzler looked fine after the injury, nothing both of his interceptions, and played well above his second-round selection spot.
At pick No. 19, the Raiders add Jeremy Chinn in this re-draft, a player who would be outstanding alongside Johnathan Abram on this Raiders defense. Chinn was selected in the third round, but played like a first-round talent, joining Dantzler as an All-Rookie selection, while starting 15 games for the Carolina Panthers.
Ruggs and Arnette left out of the first round
In a final insult, neither of the Raiders’ 2020 first-round picks made the first round in Trapasso’s re-draft, as both Ruggs and Arnette were not one of the 32 players selected. Neither had a great rookie season, so it is not surprising that they were not listed, especially when so many Day 2 picks stepped up in a big way in 2020.
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For Las Vegas, they hold only one first-round pick in 2021, the first time in Mayock’s three drafts that they do not have multiple first-round selections. He and Jon Gruden need to get this pick right, as the Raiders are close to being a Super Bowl team, but cannot afford to miss in the first round this April.