If you haven’t made your peace with the Raiders drafting Damon Arnette in the first round, follow along for a few minutes. You might change your mind.
By now you’ve probably heard the knocks on Arnette. Fantasy footballer and prospect analyst Evan Silva summed them up well in his column on Sunday.
“Arnette is old for a rookie (24 in September), slow for a cornerback (4.56), and was removed from several teams’ boards due to off-field concerns. My guess is the Raiders panicked after the Falcons reached for A.J. Terrell three picks before,” Evan Silva (EstablishTheRun) wrote this week.
Who knows why teams would take Arnette off the board for off-field issues because he has no known legal matters following him to the NFL. He has never been arrested. And his coaches at Ohio State have been glowing about the way he matured after his junior year.
Hard-nosed and tough? Yeah, Arnette is both of those, but he’s also a team player and hardly a menace to society.
As for the speed issue that keeps coming up, don’t be surprised if the Raiders pounced on a player they knew was much faster than his combine time. According to former NFL wide receiver Cris Carter, Arnette was dealing with a hamstring issue leading up to the combine – which would explain his modest 4.56 forty time.
“He’s got better game speed than he showed at the combine,” Carter said of Arnette. “He was dealing with a couple things. He had a hamstring and a back issue that I believe he runs a lot faster than that combine time.”
If that’s not enough, how about this. At Ohio State, Arnette actually posted a better top speed than Terry McLaurin as a redshirt sophomore. McLaurin would go on to post a 4.35 forty-time at the 2019 combine.
So Arnette isn’t slow.
If anything, the lack of a pro day likely ended up hurting Arnette’s stock (with most teams) because he never had a chance to post a better 40 time. Good for him that the Raiders didn’t hold that against him.
All that being said… maybe Arnette was more of a first-round prospect than he’s being given credit. For weeks we’ve been talking about the better scouting departments gaining an advantage from this year’s minimized scouting process. Maybe the Raiders just happened to be one of those teams.
twitter: @raidersbeat
As a physical hard hitting corner … I don’t think sprinters speed is that important ., Unless they are trying to chase someone down …I mean there is 22 guys out there … a lot of obsticals to hit , miss and get out of the way …this guy is noted to have great instincts … And can lay on a good hit as a blocker or setting a pick … Good luck Damon !
Never had a beef with the player, however, there was really no risk in trading down a few spots for at least a 3rd round pick. We could have still gotten our guy and another 3rd round pick. I think we missed out on an opportunity and lost draft value from that 19th pick. I’m happy with the players they picked. Also think Muse was a reach. Even if you don’t receive the equal draft value back with a pick, you still gain something.
I love our coach and GM and if I can be convinced that we weren’t putting Arnette at risk by moving back a few spots and getting a 3rd round pick in return then I am ok with this. Mayock stated on a video that their were offers, so that’s not the case. It appears we didn’t take full advantage of our hand.”
Dont get up with the draft “experts” and their “value” of picks. Every teams board looks completely different. If the Raiders feel he a top 20-25 talent and/or they believe this kid is a lockdown corner for the next 10 years, you dont hesitate and take him. It only takes one team to agree with you or think more highly of said player to screw you out of the player you believe in.
In my opinion, he was rated lower by the draft “experts” because he is older, closer to his ceiling, and “slow” (40 times and football speed are two different things, tape does not lie) Not enough of these “experts” think highly enough on floor, work ethic, team leadership, or how ready they are to play in the NFL. they salivate over upside.
Looking back on last years draft, the Raiders drafted guys ready to contribute right away, great work ethic, and team leaders. Ferrell, Jacobs, Abram, Mullen, Crosby, Moreau, Renfrow where all ready to play right away and all contributed right away. Arnette is of that same mold.
Only time will tell how well or how bad the Raiders did in this draft class. In year one of Mayok, he killed it. He drafted six players in the first five rounds and ended up with five starters. That is a great draft!
It’s for catchup speed after breaks and etc then guarding the faster receivers that come out every year
Ok. That’s good to know. When Arnett ran that 4.56 I was shocked because I have been watching him all year and his field speed is way faster. If you get a chance to watch some 2019 Ohio St game film you’ll see that Arnett is a dog the WHOLE game. He has one the smoothest press games I’ve ever seen but also aggressive. He was the second best tackling DB I saw last year. For example, one of the DB’s that was mocked to the Raiders was Kristan Fulton. Arnett is a much better all around player. The best tackling DB I saw last year was Amic Robertson. I can’t believe he was still there for the Raiders in the 4th. But the problem is Amic is now the best DB on the roster, and that includes Trayvon Mullen. I’m serious. Amic Robertson is the steal of this draft! And btw, it’s no way in hell he’s sitting on bench. Somebody will get cut traded, whatever. We finally have a player back there that will take your head off. Haven’t had that since Ronny Lott🤨
Agree wholeheartedly. People need to trust mayock…this is his specialty.
Damon will show the world come September. This man is tough, smart, physical, and plays / competes at combine injured. All the doubters will come to love him as a starting Las Vegas Raider corner in game one this year. He is the real deal.
Raiders couldn’t wait till third round for corner so they took what they think was the best available. Time Will tell. I think they know more about football than me so I’ll trust thier judgement 😉.
Yeah, talk him up, he was still a reach. If he’d been taken in the 2nd round, it would be an easy sell, but at #19….?
When did we pick in the 2nd?
Reach? What does that mean?
I thought the draft was about getting players that help your team win. If that happens, I’d say the player was pretty valuable. This isn’t Madden, you can’t risk losing they players you want by trading back getting “value” by not “reaching”.
Was Tom Brady in the fifth a steal? Just saying.
What team do you scout for …? Another Lazy boy coach that doesn’t watch college football much
Ok, let me say this slowly so you can understand, ok? The term “reach” is based on where a player is taken in relation to where he was expected to be taken. Still with me, big guy? The whole point of this article is that the projection was wrong and based on faulty data or incomplete information. Therefore, he should have been projected to go earlier than he was projected. Did you get all that? He was not a reach; his predraft projection was inaccurate.
………a reach, according to who? The “draft experts” on sports shows and blogs? the Kipers and McShay types? 99% of these so-called draft experts NEVER workout these prospects/talk to these prospects. Puh-lease. I’ll trust the opinions of people that have actually done it for real, and that were successful at it…HOF’r Bill Polian was just on the NFL network today, praising Mayock on the selection of Arnette, stating that those people in the League who do it for a living, had Arnette rated highly.
Given the facts that the Raiders needed a CB and that they had no second round picks taken a need at 19 was a no brainier bro !
His 2019 stats are better the Okudah and he played with a broken hand all yr
Totally disagree. Most of these so called draft “experts” are basement dwelling dorks. You don’t think the Raiders watched 20 x more film on the guys they drafted (and met with them at the combine, then Zoom) then these stat dorks? Who cares what people think? The Raiders got their guys and I think they killed it again this year. Remember the dorks saying Maxx Crosby? Trayvon Mullen in the second? Foster Moreau can’t catch, he’s just a blocker. How’s that working out now? Arnette was a three year starter at Ohio State, that’s good enough for me. The dude is prototypical size and likes to stick his nose into it. I think he’s just scratching the surface
of his abilities. Time will tell.
The Raiders drafted a really good bunch of athletic players. Almost all of them will play immediately. Robertson will be a tough s.o.b on the outside or slot. Should put Joyner back at safety. Isaiah Johnson, Robertson, Mullen and Arnette should be the corners. Muse will also be better than expected. The WR’s we got are crazy good. Go boys!!!
So what do you do if you don’t have a second round then and no trade?
Did we have a 2nd round pick?
Or did we even have a trade partner out of the 19th pick to move down to 2nd round no so what the problem is we got a player at the position we needed enough said u work in a nfl front office? (Bloodylimy) let us know u u did
Was he a reach? Possibly. The Rauders didn’t have a 2nd round pick so if Arnette was their guy. For all those that insist he was a reach I haven’t heard any of them name a better press corner tha the Raiders could have taken at the 19th pick so their “expertise” extends only to complaining.
Well since the Raiders didn’t have a 2nd round pick, then it wouldn’t be a reach for them. It’s picking the player you want before someone else does. No guarantee that if they trade down in the 2nd he’s there for them. I agree they probably should have tried that and got a 2nd and maybe a later round pick for #19, but they want what they want. When we get a season we’ll see what happens.
Yeah, all you doubters out there should go take a nap or something! Cause you all had the same **** yo say about our draft last year. And look what we ended up with. It looks like maybe we have another draft with allot of possibilities. Stay positive Raider Nation! But, I”m still mad about Cooper and Mack, Chucky!!! So you better know what youre doing! Lets just hope that they do and pray that this **** is over soon so we can see!!
People forget that corner was a major need in this draft and we had no second round pick and mid rounders in the third. He may not have been 1st rounder material on alot of draft boards, in fact most had him as an early third. If you need corner and have no second then doing their homework they see he was once listed as late 1st early 2nd and they didnt want to not address that need all the way into the third. Truly stoked at how the raiders are revolutionizing roster management right before our eyes. Miami and Jacksonville trying to follow suit…nation.
All I will say is it’s not a reach. And if he was projected for second. It was a smart pick for a team with out a second round pick?
But that is the problem, we did not have a 2nd round pick and they wanted him, so only a reach in the so called draft experts don’t agree.
The raiders had two real pressing needs, a #1 WR and a good CB. They addressed those needs with the players they felt matched their team, including the love football, never back down and team first attitude. Funny how we all speculate about why an untested rookie is this or that. Come decision time, the Raiders took the best available players in their eyes who fit their team. You either trust in Mayock and Grudens analysis or you don’t. They, especially Mayock, proved their ability to analyze talent last year. The reach last year was really AB who didn’t fit the “team first” mentality at all. It cost them 2 good players in this draft. Until you can see how these new pieces play and fit, they still seem like a much improved team to me.
All this doubt about Arnette just wants me to get behind him even more he will prove the doubters wrong .
As a Michigan fan I hate all suckeyes but I give credit where it’s due. Damon Arnette is a dog.
Evan Silva is a fantasy football 🤡
The Raiders excelled in the draft picking because of the GM factor,that’s all we need to know so trust it folks!
(GM-Gruden&Mayock)
Everybody keeps talking about such a reach don’t people realize they didn’t have a second round pick to to use …they got their guy
Oh and of course all their scouts and coaches,Thanks Guys!