Las Vegas Raiders got a playmaker in Missouri S Tyree Gillespie
By Nick Bailey
The Las Vegas Raiders traded up in the fourth round for Tyree Gillespie, and he is going to be a playmaker at the next level.
Coming into the final day of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders did not have a fourth-round pick following a trade to move up in the second round to draft TCU safety Trevon Moehrig. They changed that by trading up with the New York Jets, sending them picks 162 & 200 in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively, to move back into the end of the fourth round to take an athletic safety out of The University of Missouri, Tyree Gillespie.
Gillespie is a fast, athletic safety who can play in either the split safety or single high safety role, and is a player who also can lay the wood in the running game. Playing in the SEC, he played against some of the better competition on the collegiate level and excelled when he did.
In Missouri’s matchup against Alabam, he played his best game of the year routinely making plays against some players who have turned out to be top-10 picks. Those players were Jaylen Waddle, who he actually ran down, Devonta Smith, and Najee Harris, who he stopped at the goal line in the game.
Raiders got a playmaker in Gillespie
When asked where he is going to play with the Raiders, Gillespie said he did not have that talk yet, but that he is a playmaker.
New @Raiders S Tyree Gillespie on what role he sees himself playing: "Just put me on the field and just let me make plays. I feel like I'm a playmaker. I'm going to make a lot of plays. So just put me on the field and let me do my thing."
— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) May 1, 2021
Against the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, Kyle Pitts, who he guarded for the majority of the game against Florida, he allowed only one catch for eight yards while allowing seven catches all year.
He will serve as a high-end backup and another excellent special teams player while waiting to see if Johnathan Abram puts it together or not. If Abram’s play doesn’t improve from this past year look forward to seeing Tyree Gillespie on the field as early as this year.