Ranking the Las Vegas Raiders first round picks since 2010

Ranking the Las Vegas Raiders first-round picks since 2010

8. D.J. Hayden: 2013 – 12th overall, Houston

DJ Hayden is a much-maligned pick by the Raiders as they used they traded down from the third overall pick in exchange for the 12th and 42nd overall pick. Many believed that the Raiders did not get enough in return for moving down 9 spots when they could have selected an edge rusher like Ziggy Ansah or franchise tackle in Lane Johnson with that pick.

Hayden also had the stigma of having a life-threatening injury where a practice collision tore a vein in his heart and major surgery had to be done to save his life. He was having an excellent season and was named first-team All-Conference USA but teams were nervous about that going into the draft.

Despite the injury, Hayden played 8 games for the Raiders his rookie season before going on IR for a sports hernia and would go on to play in Oakland for 4 years total. He never became the shutdown corner the Raiders wanted but he developed into a solid slot corner and has had an eight-year career despite his initial injury.

The hope is that both Arnette and Ruggs will surpass Hayden this season but for now the fact that he is still in the NFL after being drafted in 2013 is reason enough to not have him below them on the list.