Raiders 2023 7-round Mock Draft: Las Vegas lands a franchise QB
Raiders 2023 7-round Mock Draft: Las Vegas lands a franchise QB
Aggies . Ainias Smith. 191. player. 873. . WR
As we talked about with the Jaylen Hyatt pick, the Raiders will need to keep on building up their wide receiver core to avoid situations where they are counting on subpar veterans. Ainias Smith out of Texas A&M is an intriguing prospect who looks the part of a classic slot receiver. He is a bit slight at 5-10 and 190lbs but has 4.4 speed which makes him a tantalizing deep threat.
Smith does not have the gaudy numbers of Hyatt and has played just 4 games this season but that’s why we are looking at him as a day 3 pick rather than day 2. Scouts like him because of his soft hands and what they call a “knack for getting open”. They praise his ability to track deep balls downfield and his catch radius makes him a “quarterback’s best friend” according to many scouts.
There are some concerns about his ability to handle press coverage because of his size but if he is operating as the 4th or 5th wide receiver in Las Vegas he should have plenty of room to operate. Grabbing two wide receivers may seem counterintuitive for a team that already has Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow but we have seen how quickly that depth can dissipate if things go wrong.