The Las Vegas Raiders have hit on two consecutive first-round draft picks in tight end Brock Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty. That hasn't necessarily breeded a lot of team success, but the Silver and Black have at least got a few seeds of success already in the building.
Over the years, however, the Raiders have struggled to find difference-makers in the NFL Draft. Whether it has been whiffing on first-rounders or failing to consistently find value in the later rounds, Las Vegas has been largely sunk due to miscues in April.
While there are more egregious examples like Damon Arnette, Henry Ruggs or Johnathan Abram, none of whom even finished out their rookie contracts in Las Vegas, there have been a handful of other first-round picks who have been simply unremarkable, like Clelin Ferrell or Tyree Wilson.
Raiders draft bust Clelin Ferrell is finally breaking out for the 49ers
Wilson is still figuring things out in his third year with the Raiders, but Ferrell left the franchise after the 2022 season. It was actually his leaving, in part, that inspired the new regime in Las Vegas to select Wilson at No. 7 overall in 2023.
Ferrell, the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, when the team was still in Oakland, never really panned out for the franchise. He had a solid 4.5 sacks as a rookie, but he was outshined by fellow first-year player Maxx Crosby, and his production dipped over the next three years, totaling just 5.5 sacks.
Since his departure from Las Vegas, however, Ferrell has had more solid production than he had with the Raiders. In 2023 with the San Francisco 49ers, he had 3.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hits, and he had 3.5 sacks and nine quarterback hits with the Washington Commanders in 2024.
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For some reason, he bounced around on the Los Angeles Chargers' practice squad to begin the year, but he returned to the 49ers in late October. Since then, he's been on a tear, doing things in San Francisco that he never did in Las Vegas.
In just four games with the 49ers this year, Ferrell has recorded 4.0 sacks, four quarterback hits, 14 combined tackles and four tackles for a loss. In Week 13 against the Cleveland Browns, he recorded 2.0 sacks, nine tackles, two tackles for a loss and two quarterback hits.
This marked a single-game career-high in both total tackles and solo tackles, tied for his career-best in tackles for a loss, and was just his third multi-sack game since entering the NFL in 2019. Ferrell has turned into an incredibly effective edge rusher for a 49ers team that desperately needs him.
It was never Ferrell's fault that he was drafted No. 4 overall, as then-general manager Mike Mayock reached on him in the worst way. But Ferrell is now looking like an above-average player on the edge in San Francisco, which stings because he never really was in Oakland or Las Vegas.