2021 NFL Draft: Las Vegas Raiders dueling 7-round mock drafts
How will the Las Vegas Raiders bolster their roster in the 2021 draft? Will they use most of their picks on defense? Let’s see how the final mocks pan out.
We’re hours away from the end of all the mock draft guessing games. All 32 NFL teams will go on the clock for the 2021 draft, and the Las Vegas Raiders must address multiple areas to pull in a successful haul.
During the offseason, the Raiders chose a new voice to lead the defense, hiring play-caller Gus Bradley, who looks to develop and tweak a unit that ranked 30th in scoring for the 2020 season.
As the new defensive coordinator, Bradley should call some shots over the next few days. He’s in charge of changing the Raiders’ trend of subpar defenses. Dating back to the 2002 season, the club has ranked 18th or worse in points allowed.
Head coach Jon Gruden isn’t going to just step aside and allow Bradley to run the show. He also needs upgrades for his offense, specifically on the front line.
In recent years, Vegas had invested a ton of money in its offensive line, but that’s not the case going into the draft. The team ranks 20th with $29.6 million spent on the position group, per Spotrac.
With that said, expect the Raiders to select at least one offensive tackle in a strong class.
Speaking of expectations, let’s take a look at dueling mock drafts before the reality sets in tonight.
Similar to our free-agent predictions, we’ll go through what the team could do and how the writer would address the roster. You’ll see the projected pick followed by the writer’s selection.