Raiders 7-round 2023 NFL Mock Draft: Trading back and landing a franchise QB

Raiders NFL Mock Draft: Trading back and landing a franchise QB

109. Owen Pappoe LB Auburn

Similar to the Jahmyr Gibbs selection earlier, this was a player that we did not expect to be available at this point in the draft but with the 109th overall selection, we grab linebacker Owen Pappoe out of Auburn. Pappoe is another player that was one of the stars of the NFL combine as he ran a 4.3940 while measuring in at 6-0 and 225 pounds.

The turn about him is primarily that his blazing speed and athleticism did not translate to much production on the field so teams will be betting that he can improve on that at the NFL level. Several examples of players were misused at the college level and their athleticism could not be used to its full potential.

The other concern about Pappoe is that he is a bit undersized but we have seen several linebackers at the NFL level excel in this wide-open passing era despite not having prototypical size. If he was to pair with Trenton Simpson then they would form one of the most athletic linebacker duos in the NFL and would bring an incredible amount of explosiveness and athleticism to the Raiders' front seven.