Since the NFL draft in April, the Raiders have received as much praise as any team in the league for their latest draft class.
Not only did the Raiders add one of the most promising quarterback prospects to enter the draft since Andrew Luck, but they also made a series of mid-round picks with tremendous upside.
If healthy, rookie cornerback Jermod McCoy could be starter in week 1, and third-round pick Trey Zuhn III could challenge for a starting job at three different positions along the offensive line.
Zuhn was selected by the Raiders with the 91st pick, and based on draft footage released by the Carolina Panthers, the Raiders were trying to trade up from pick 91 to the Panthers position at pick 83.
It isn’t clear what GM John Spytek was offering the Panthers, or which player Spytek was after, but the Panthers said the Chiefs and Raiders were both after pick 83 with “enticing” offers.
It’s possible Spytek tried to trade up with other teams, but ultimately, he stayed at pick 91 and drafted Zuhn.
The Panthers drafted wide receiver Chris Brazzell, and the Buccaneers went with a wide receiver with the pick after that. The wide receiver room in Las Vegas didn’t get a lot of attention in the offseason, so it’s possible Spytek was interested in one of those wide receivers.
It’s also possible the Raiders had their eye on Indiana running back Kaelon Black, who was one of three mid-round running backs they were reportedly interested in.
“They thought… that Mike Washington would have went a lot higher than where he went,” Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said in April.
“[The] Raiders picked him at pick 122 [in the] fourth round. I can tell you right now, they had a second round grade on Washington. They loved him. They loved Price. They loved Kaelon Black. They loved Mike Washington and… he is fast. He is a wrecking ball and when you look at the one-two punch of him and Ashton Jeanty… and remember that’s the Klint Kubiak way.”
If it was Black they were targeting, the Raiders nearly had him fall to pick 91 where they ended up getting Zuhn.
We might never know who the decision makers in Las Vegas wanted with pick 83, but they filled a huge need by drafting Zuhn and got a supremely talented running back in Washington a round later.
For all the talk about Ashton Jeanty getting a massive workload this year, it’s hard to imagine the Raiders would have traded up for Washington if they didn’t plan on carving out a legitimate role for him.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper was a huge fan of Washington leading up to the draft and said the Arkansas running back turned a lot of heads at the NFL combine this year.
“I’m not sure if any other prospect improved his stock in Indy as much as Washington,” Kiper wrote in March.
“We know Jeremiyah Love will be the first running back off the board, and Notre Dame teammate Jadarian Price seems to have a good grip on RB2. But the No. 3 running back spot is a wide-open race, and Washington might have done enough at the combine to jump the line and make his case to go in Round 3.”
“Washington’s 4.33-second 40-yard dash (with a 1.51-second 10-yard split) led all running backs and tied for eighth best among all positions this year. And per ESPN Research, it tied for the fastest 40 time over the past 20 combines for players weighing at least 220 pounds (joining DK Metcalf and Isaac Guerendo). His 39-inch vertical and 10-foot-8 broad jump were also second at the position this year, behind Kentucky’s Seth McGowan.”
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feature photo credit: raiders.com