The Las Vegas Raiders have struggled in the first round in a big way across their last few NFL Drafts, but can David Ziegler buck that trend in 2023?
When the Raiders franchise brought back Jon Gruden after the 2017 NFL season, it was supposed to be the beginning of a re-birth for the franchise. Gruden was seen as the coach that got away by team owner Mark Davis, as his father traded him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early-2000s.
Instead, the Gruden regime, coupled with the addition of general manager Mike Mayock, did not bring the kind of success anybody was hoping for. Gruden quickly traded away stars like Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper for draft picks, a haul that should have brought back a collection of players to take the Raiders from being perennial doormats, to perennial contenders.
Instead, Mayock and Gruden completely fumbled the first round every years, even though they had five first-round picks across the 2019 and 2020 NFL Drafts. All told, the only real contributor Mayock and company brought in was Josh Jacobs, who has since become one of the best young running backs in the NFL.
For new general manager David Ziegler, avoiding the same kind of fate as Mayock is the only way he can stick around for the long-term.
Raiders: Can David Ziegler avoid previous regime's draft misses?
Ziegler's first NFL Draft
Due to the fact the team traded for Davante Adams last offseason, the Silver and Black did not hold a first or second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. That enabled Ziegler to wait until pick No. 70 before he had to make a selection, a pick he used on University of Memphis interior offensive lineman, Dylan Parham.
From there, Ziegler had a very so-so draft, as he brought in a few defensive tackles in Neil Farrell Jr. and Malcolm Butler, while also adding a running back in Zamir White. Brittain Brown was another running back added in the draft, and in the seventh-round, Thayer Munford Jr. was a solid find as a swing offensive tackle.
All told, only Parham and Munford really made any impact in Year 1, although the franchise is pretty high on White to spell Jacobs at times in Year 2. Without a pick in the first or second-rounds, it is tough to put a real grade on this draft class, but if the franchise does not get more from this group in 2023, the entire class could be seen as a bust outside of Parham.
Raiders: Can David Ziegler avoid previous regime's draft misses?
Ziegler holds elite draft capital in 2023
Thanks to the trade of Darren Waller to the New York Giants, the Las Vegas Raiders hold four of the first 100 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. That is significantly more draft capital than Ziegler had in 2022, and the team also holds the No. 109 overall pick, so expect some impact players to be joining the franchise this April.
While all those picks are nice, the biggest one is the No. 7 overall selection, a pick that the Raiders could use to move up or down in the first round. That pick will be Ziegler's first Day 1 pick as the team's general manager, and there has never been more pressure for a general manager to get the selection right.
That is where the nervousness comes, as we have a general manager making his first Day 1 pick, and there are so many ways he could go with the selection. No matter what Ziegler decides to do, whether it is to move up to get a franchise quarterback, or move back to stack more picks and address other team needs, he cannot afford to swing and miss the way Mayock did.