With no picks in the first couple of rounds, the Las Vegas Raiders will need to find steals in the mid to late rounds, and here are some athletic gems still out there.
The 2022 NFL draft is finally here, and the Las Vegas Raiders, they will have plenty of time to think as they will not make a selection until late on Day 2 (#86). However, the mid to late rounds have been somewhat of a sweet spot.
Over the last three drafts, the Raiders have found players like Maxx Crosby, Hunter Renfrow, John Simpson, and Nate Hobbs, all in Round 4 or later.
So will Dave Ziegler and the new front office be able to keep the late-round success going?
That remains to be seen, but fortunately for them, this is a deep draft class. And even better, it is deep with a ton of athleticism.
Late-round picks are great opportunities to take a chance on high-end athletes that are still raw as players because you can’t teach natural ability. Crosby is the finest example of this, as he tested elite across the board back in 2019.
So who are the athletic gems for 2022?
According to The Athletic Consensus Big Board, here are five elite athletes that are not that highly regarded according to many draft analysts.
(Testing will be based on Relative Athletic Score)