The Raiders had yet another draft full of surprises this year. Let’s take a look at each pick and predict the impact they will have on the team.
Since Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden took over the Las Vegas Raiders franchise a few years ago, they have consistently made surprising picks, especially in the first round. Unfortunately, these first-round picks have not performed up to where they were drafted, and if you take Josh Jacobs away, it has been a pretty tough haul.
Sure, Clelin Ferrell was solid in Year 2, but he needs to do a better job in getting after the quarterback. Henry Ruggs III and Damon Arnette did not do much as rookies in 2020, but it is only a one-year sample, so the jury is still out on those two as well.
Then there is Johnathan Abram, who burst onto the scene as a potential star in HBO’s Hard Knocks, before looking good early on in the Raiders opener against the Denver Broncos in Week 1 of the 2019 NFL season. Since then, it has been all downhill, as he missed the rest of his rookie campaign, and then struggled mightily in Year 2.
With that said, let’s take a look at every pick of the Raiders draft this year, and see where they fit in the lineup, and what type of impact they will have on the team.