Las Vegas Raiders 7-round 2023 NFL Mock Draft: Early FA edition
Similar to Divine Deablo who is the current Raiders’ starting middle linebacker, Jalen Graham out of Purdue is a tweener who played both safety and linebacker at the college level. Graham measures in at 6-1 and 220 lbs and his performance at the combine suggests that he is a linebacker at the NFL level.
The Detroit native’s athleticism score is on the low end for a safety but the same numbers go from the 10th or worst percentile to average or better for a linebacker. Graham is not an elite athlete by any means but he is a smart and physical player who would bring a high level of physicality to the position.
The coverage skills he showed in college make him a great asset to a linebacker group that is currently lacking in that department. The Raiders currently have some thumpers in Robert Spillane and Deablo but need a guy they can trust to cover tight ends or running backs coming out of the backfield.
Graham can do that at a reasonably high level though he will need to get stronger to hold up against some of the bigger targets in the league.