Questioning the validity of Dave Ziegler as Raiders GM in the early going

Questioning the validity of Dave Ziegler as Raiders GM in the early going

An early recap of the ’22 Raiders’ draft class under Dave Ziegler

Before we get into the thick of things, it’s important to take a second and remember this early recap of the Raiders’ most recent draft class is just that – an early recap. Anything can transpire down the line and by no means is anything set in stone, but what could happen in the future is a conversation for another time.

What we know to be true in the present day is the focus right now.

Acquiring a player of Davante Adams’ stature comes at no small cost. To pry the All-Pro receiver from the Packers, Las Vegas had to send a first and second-round pick from the ’22 NFL Draft to Green Bay.

This left the Raiders standing idle in the draft until round three.

Offensive lineman Dylan Parham was Las Vegas’ first pick at 90, followed by running back Zamir White (122) and defensive tackle Neil Farrell (126) in the fourth. In the next round, Ziegler and company went back to defensive tackle to grab Matthew Butler (175) and ended the draft by selecting right tackle Thayer Munford (238) and running back Brittain Brown (250) in the seventh round.

All six of the Raiders’ rookies went on to make the 53-man roster.

Things haven’t gone so well for the class, though. Dylan Parham enters Week 10 with a lowly pass-blocking grade of 46.6 – the lowest on the offensive line – surrendering two sacks and 23 total pressures. During Las Vegas’ most recent outing, against the Jaguars, Parham led the team in pressures allowed.

While not entirely his fault, Zamir White has been disappointing as well.

The Georgia alum has 20 rushing yards on six attempts (3.3 YPC), ending the day with negative yardage in two of his five games with rushing attempts. White is currently averaging 2 yards after contact per rush, with a goose egg in the broken tackle column.

The “good news” – the Raiders’ OL has struggled mightily on running plays. However, this excuse vanishes when we take a look at Josh Jacobs, who’s not only running behind the same line but is doing so without the fresh legs Zamir jogs onto the field with.

Jacobs is averaging a career-high 92.9 yards per game, with a 5.4 yards per attempt mark which ranks third-highest in the league among starting running backs who have appeared in at least six contests. The 24-year-old currently has totaled 18 broken tackles, with 3.3 yards after contact per rush.

‘Zeus’ is a promising prospect, but it hasn’t looked good so far.

Neither Farrell nor Butler have done much up the middle defensively this year. While it’s true some of that can be attributed to the consistent rotations used by Patrick Graham, it doesn’t change the fact there hasn’t been too much to be happy about with either, although Butler has earned a run defense grade of 67.2 via Pro Football Focus in his 18 run defending snaps.

That leaves us with the seventh-round duo of Thayer Munford and Brittain Brown.

Munford has rotated with Jermaine Eluemunor at the right tackle spot consistently throughout each contest. While it seems unnatural to rotate OL units mid-game – and for the most part, it is – McDaniels has decided it’s for the best.

Eluemunor and Munford have been very similar this season. One has surrendered 11 pressures, and the other has given up nine. One has allowed Carr to get hit twice, the other only once. Just as their pass-blocking numbers are neck-and-neck, so are their pass-blocking grades.

With 231 passing downs played this season, Eluemunor has earned a pass-blocking grade of 66.3. Munford, at 162 passing downs played, comes in with a grade of 70.2.

All-in-all, Munford has risen as the only noteworthy prospect from the Raiders’ ’22 draft to date. His 53.9 run-blocking grade leaves some work to be done in that area, but the positives remain clear.

Brittain Brown has yet to play a snap in the NFL.

To reiterate the opening statement here, anything can happen in the future. After all, these players are only 10 weeks into their rookie season. Still, there’s not a whole lot to write home about with the ’22 rookie class at this point in their young careers. Outside of Monford, there’s really nothing at all.

Onto free agency.