Oakland Raiders: Handing out grades for the team’s 2018 draft picks

The Oakland Raiders have concluded the 2018 Draft, and now it’s time to hand out grades to each of the team’s picks this year.

Well, the Oakland Raiders first draft of the Jon Gruden 2.0 era is now officially in the books. Now comes the task of putting these rookies to work and figuring out how (or if) they can help this team climb out of the doldrums of 2017 and get back onto a winning path.

So, while Gruden and his staff get to work with their crop of rookies, it’s time for sportswriters across the country to get busy picking and nitpicking each of those rookies.

Let’s just state up front, for the record, that any grading of a rookie class at the outset should basically be, “incomplete,” as we won’t know how the incoming players will fare in the NFL – or if they even pan out at all.

There’s no question that some of these rookies won’t be up to snuff – see recent draft picks like Jihad Ward and Shilique Calhoun. Just as there’s no question that some of these rookies will be far better than anticipated – see guys like Nicholas Morrow and Treyvon Hester.

In this year’s draft, Jon Gruden opted to forgo most of the marquee names on the board, opting for a mixed bag of players from smaller schools, guys who aren’t “name guys,” and others with checkered histories, to say the least.

Gruden’s draft was quite a wild ride with a number of trades and a number of players many consider reaches. And while we won’t know whether or not this draft class knocks it out of the park (it very well could), or stinks worse than a port-a-pottie at Coachella (it also, very well could), for some time yet, that’s not stopping anybody from giving their instant reactions and assigning letter grades.

Though, they should all be taken with a grain of salt – including this one. Obviously.

And so, in the spirit of keeping up with the Jonses, here is one man’s report card for Oakland’s 2018 Draft class.