The Las Vegas Raiders selected Tyree Wilson with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and the hope is that he can bring more production than most of the last 20 first-round picks made by the organization. The Raiders franchise has swung and missed more times than not since the 2004 NFL Draft, and here, we power rank all the selections.
Here, we power rank the last 20 Raiders first-round draft picks.
Power ranking each of the past 20 Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders first-round picks
- 20. JaMarcus Russell: 1st overall, 2007 NFL Draft
Widely regarded as one of the worst picks in the history of the NFL Draft, the Raiders selected LSU star quarterback JaMarcus Russell with the No. 1 overall pick back in 2007. Expected to come in and be a savior for a team that had fallen on hard times, Russell ended up being a total bust, never reaching the heights the Raiders were hoping he would.
Russell would last only three seasons with the Silver and Black, and after being released in 2009, he never played in the NFL again. Stories of him not watching game tape among other issues arose after his playing days were over, and for someone blessed with so much talent in his right arm, his fall put the Raiders franchise back years.
- 19. Damon Arnette: 19th overall, 2020 NFL Draft
If JaMarcus Russell was not one of the worst draft picks in NFL history, Damon Arnette would have certainly found his place atop this list. Arnette was a questionable selection coming out of Ohio State, but that did not stop the Raiders from choosing him with one of their two first-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Like his fellow first-round mate, Henry Ruggs III, Arnette would be most known for what he did off the field, as he brandished a gun on social media in November of 2021 and was released by the Raiders. All told, Arnette played 14 games for the Raiders across two seasons and was as bad on the field as he was off of it.