Las Vegas Raiders: 2021 Draft class mid-season Report Card
By Nico Di Fede
Las Vegas Raiders: 2021 Draft class mid-season Report Card
Round 4, Pick 143: Tyree Gillespie, S
The safety out of Missouri, Tyree Gillespie, has seen action in all 8 games, though primarily on special teams. The rookie has logged only 7 snaps on defense.
Gillespie was likely drafted as insurance in case Johnathan Abram continued his poor play from last year or got hurt. Well, Abram has improved this year and has stayed healthy, so Gillespie hasn’t been called upon much.
On draft day, this pick seemed like overkill being that the Raiders drafted Trevon Moehrig, a safety, and Divine Deablo, a college safety who we didn’t yet know would be converting to linebacker.
It’s hard to judge the pick given the fact that he hasn’t needed to step in on the defense side of the ball, however, you could argue there was better talent at safety on the board. In round 5, the Denver Broncos selected Caden Sterns who was almost universally ranked higher than Gillespie, and he has churned out a solid season thus far.
That being said, hindsight is 20-20, and like Gillespie, likely, Sterns wouldn’t see the field much either for Las Vegas unless he showed in practice that he was vastly superior to Abram, as the team would likely want to give the nod and chance for the former first-rounder to turn things around which he has for the most part.
I do however still feel like the pick was un-needed, and the team could have gotten better value at that spot.
- Performance Grade: N/A
- Pick Grade: D+