Could the Raiders have to trade up if they are targeting a specific receiver in the draft?
Raiders play-by-play voice Brent Musburger thinks they might.
“I can see Denver picking up the phone as we get closer and closer to that Raiders draft choice… and here’s where Mike Mayock has to be alert. He may have to play poker also,” Musburger said Monday on the VSiN Network. “The Raiders do not have a full cupboard of draft choices in this draft… now the Raiders may have decided that [CeeDee] Lamb is going to go, maybe the Broncos are going to jump up and grab him. They may have to protect that and make a move with that pick. So we’ve got a couple of teams in the AFC West that could be jockeying for one of those top 3 receivers.”
The Broncos are in an interesting spot because if they want one of the top three receivers, they are likely to come away empty-handed without moving up from pick 15. Musburger mentioned Lamb, but the Raiders have also been consistently linked to Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III.
The teams most likely to draft receivers ahead of the Raiders at pick 12 are Arizona (pick 8), Jacksonville (pick 9), and the New York Jets (pick 11), but all three teams are also strong candidates to draft one of the top offensive tackles expected to still be available.
Almost certainly the Raiders are going to be on the clock with at least one of the consensus top three receivers (Jeudy, Lamb, Ruggs) still on the board. All three would fill a huge void in Jon Gruden’s offense.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Musburger officially part of the Raider smoke screen . . love it. The more I hear how much Gruden loves Lamb . . the more I think they will take one of the other top 3 WRs!