Las Vegas Raiders: Best-case scenario with 48th Pick in the 2021 NFL Draft

The Las Vegas Raiders and the NFL are gearing up for the 2021 NFL draft for the second time during the COVID-19 pandemic. What is the best-case scenario for the Raiders at pick 48?

The Las Vegas Raiders have multiple needs heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, specifically at offensive tackle and within the secondary. The Raiders defense has been in the bottom third of the league these past two years despite investing money into the secondary and at linebacker in the past two offseasons.

Las Vegas signed Cory Littleton last season to help with the linebacker depth, and the offseason before went out and got former Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner, who was disappointing for what he was getting paid. At safety, Johnathan Abram played a little too aggressively last season and was often out of place.

In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Raiders went with Damon Arnette in the first round, a player who also had his issues adjusting to the NFL level. While many fans called for the head of Derek Carr, others pointed out the defense was the reason the Raiders were out of games.

In this draft, though, the Raiders have holes to fill on both sides of the ball, even after hitting a home run in free agency when they picked up a pass-rusher in Yannick Ngakoue to help the secondary.

So what is the Raiders’ best-case scenario at pick No. 48?

It is certainly a possibility that the Raiders will target a secondary member at pick 48 in the draft, as in the first round, they will more than likely pick up an offensive tackle such as Teven Jenkins from Oklahoma State to sure up that right tackle position vacant from the departure of Trent Brown going back to New England.

With the second-round pick, I see them picking up Asante Samuel Jr, the cornerback from Flordia State. Arnette isn’t a full-time starter yet, and wouldn’t be ready, in my opinion, for that full-time second cornerback job. In Samuel, they would be getting one of the more NFL-ready cornerbacks in this draft class, and many feel he is either going late in the first round or early in the second.

Overall, Las Vegas has a lot of holes to fill, and getting a top cornerback will help them in the secondary, which in turn, will help them when they take on elite signal-callers in their division in Justin Herbert and Patrick Mahomes.