Las Vegas Raiders: Grading every draft pick of the Jon Gruden era
By Nick Ellis
Raiders 2018 Draft, Rounds 2 and 3
Round 2 Pick 57- PJ Hall- DT
- Next five picks- Isaiah Oliver, Derrius Guice, James Washington, DJ Chark, Brian O’Neill
When PJ Hall was selected in the second round, Raiders fans were once again surprised. Using a second-round pick on an unknown player from Sam Houston State was a massive reach, but the film and highlights of Hall did get me excited.
He looked very quick and explosive for his size, but there were clearly better options with this pick.
Hall never ended up performing well for the Raiders, and he is no longer on the team. While he did not play bad enough football to deserve an F, with where he was selected, how little production he gave, and the fact that only a couple years later he is no longer on the team, it is hard not to give the pick the lowest grade possible.
Pick Grade: F
Round 3 Pick 65- Brandon Parker- OT
- Next five picks- Lorenzo Carter, Chad Thomas, Justin Reid, BJ Hill, Fred Warner
The Raiders drafted two tackles in three rounds in 2018, using their first third-round pick on Brandon Parker. Parker ended up having to play more than expected in his first two seasons and was unarguably horrible.
He was one of the worst offensive linemen in the league, but when he got his chances to play in 2020, he performed well, and proved that he was worth the roster spot.
A pick that would have surely been an F a year ago has improved a lot since 2018, and although the Raiders could have made multiple picks better than Parker here, he definitely was not the worst pick of this draft.
Pick Grade: C-
Round 3 Pick 87- Arden Key- DE
- Next five picks- Oren Burks, Joseph Noteboom, Deadrin Senat, TreQuan Smith, Chukwuma Okorafor
Arden Key was a player that I was very excited about when we drafted him. Key came out of college as a highly respected edge rusher, and many were surprised to see him fall to the third round. When Key came to the Raiders, the team badly needed a pass rusher, and they hoped that they had gotten one in Key.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, Key has not panned out how everyone had hoped. In three seasons, Key has just three sacks. He continues to have an issue with finishing tackles and bringing the quarterback to the ground once he gets in the backfield. I’ll give the Raiders the benefit of the doubt a bit for this pick because Key was productive in college and the pick was not a reach, but it overall was another miss for the team.
Pick Grade: D