After trading back to get more picks on Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders flipped the script on Day 3. Two trade-ups defined the first two picks, as the Raiders landed Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy and Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr. to begin the day.
But Las Vegas wasn't done cleverly sliding around the draft board. They offloaded 2023 first-round pick Tyree Wilson and the No. 219 pick to the New Orleans Saints for the No. 150 pick, which the Raiders turned right around and used on Dalton Johnson.
Johnson, much like Treydan Stukes, whom Las Vegas used the No. 38 overall pick on, is a versatile defensive back from Arizona. The Raiders have now doubled down on chess pieces in the secondary who wore Wildcats uniforms last college football season.
Las Vegas Raiders take second versatile Arizona DB of draft in Dalton Johnson
We wrote about why the selection of Stukes would give the Silver and Black the flexibility to choose whoever the next-best defensive back was when Las Vegas decided to address the secondary. And that not only allowed them to gamble on McCoy, but to grab another resourceful piece in Johnson.
Johnson practically played the same number of snaps at free safety, slot corner and boundary corner during the 2025 season. This is a clever way to play off the Stukes and McCoy selections, as the Raiders now have a duo of versatile pieces who can be plugged in anywhere in the secondary.
Although not a high-end "traits" guy, Johnson is a bona fide good football player. Size doesn't matter as much for a deep safety, so he'll probably spend less time in the box than he did in college. But if we're discussing where he'll line up or what his role is, how are opposing offenses going to know?
In addition to versatility being his calling card, Johnson is a great tackler, gets takeaways (forced seven fumbles in college and had four interceptions last year) and is as smooth as they come in coverage. Johnson has tremendous instincts on the back end, which should help in the NFL.
Not to mention, Johnson should thrive on special teams for the Raiders. At the very worst, Las Vegas seemingly got a core special teamer, and at the best, a rotational defensive back who can surprise opponents with his alignment and duties on any given play.
It was clever of Spytek to draft two pieces that not only already have a rapport with each other, but further muddy the waters for opposing offenses when trying to figure out how either will be deployed. Their versatility is great in a vacuum, but when combined, it's even more lethal.
All it took was offloading Wilson, who the Raiders were never going to re-sign next offseason or get any compensation for, and the No. 219 pick. They definitely weren't going to find a player of Dalton's caliber in the seventh round.
So, doubling up on the Arizona chess pieces in this draft seems to be a savvy play for Spytek and the front office. First-year defensive coordinator Rob Leonard has to be thrilled with the endless combinations of secondary deployments that he now has at his disposal.
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