The Raiders desperately needed a wide receiver in this year’s draft, and some thought they might be candidates to address the position in the first round of the draft.
With Ashton Jeanty on the board, the Raiders were out of the mix for Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in the first round, but with their next pick they selected TCU wide receiver Jack Bech.
Bech was relatively unknown going into the draft, but the Raiders have received a lot of praise for taking him in the second round.
By most accounts, the Raiders got a great value on Bech in round 2, and according to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, the team got a remarkable value based on their own draft board.
“They had a first grade round grade on him,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “I know several teams did. No one thought he would be available in the second round. Not a snowball’s chance in Vegas in the summer.”
“When he fell to the Raiders in the second round, they were shouting hallelujahs like an evangelical choir. I mean, they were excited upstairs in the Intermountain [Healthcare] building. There was a lot of excitement. They stole him. Completely stole that kid.”
What’s interesting about Bech valuation, though, is that the Raiders had two opportunities to take him in the second round and traded their picks. They moved from pick 37 to pick 48 after a trade with the Miami Dolphins, and then traded pick 48 to the Houston Texans for pick 58, which is the pick they used on Bech.
Whatever their reasons for moving down in the draft, it seems the Raiders got the guy they wanted and found a way to manufacture more picks.
With the picks they received from the Dolphins and Texans, the Raiders selected William & Mary offensive tackle Charles Grant with pick 99, and South Carolina defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway with pick 135.
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There started to be a lot of draft buzz with Bech at the Senior bowl as I recall.. It wasn’t just about the death of his brother on NYs Eve.. Won MVP of the game. I didn’t expect him to go in Rd 1, 3rd round seems about right..Good value..