Oakland Raiders shake things up in post-Combine three-round mock
By Kevin Saito
The Oakland Raiders need some serious help on both sides of the ball and this post-Combine mock draft addresses some of those many needs.
Oakland Raiders HC Jon Gruden and GM Mike Mayock have made what is easily the biggest splash of the offseason to date by landing one of the best receivers in the game today – a receiver many believe is the best of his era – in former Steeler Antonio Brown.
By dangling $30 million dollars in guaranteed money to a man who had no guaranteed money left on the contract extension he’d signed with Pittsburgh a couple of years back, the Gruden/Mayock brain trust was able to land the man who’s averaged 114 catches, 1,524 yards, and 11 touchdowns per year over the last six seasons.
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And the most impressive thing about the deal is that although they’ll be paying a little more than $50 million over the next three years for the superstar wideout (closer to $54 million if he hits certain incentives), they didn’t have to give up one of their coveted three first-round draft picks to get him.
For a little more than $17 million a season in addition to a third and fifth-round draft pick, the Raiders landed a legitimate piece to their offensive puzzle.
It wasn’t all that long ago (2016) the Raiders had one of the league’s more electric offenses. With Derek Carr running and gunning, he led the team (by the skin of their teeth) back to the playoffs for the first time since the last time Gruden roamed the sidelines.
But then the house of cards that playoff run was built on came tumbling down, leading to a 6-10 finish in 2017 and an even more abysmal 4-12 finish last year in Gruden’s return.
The last two seasons have shown just how depleted this roster is and how starved they are for genuine playmakers. On both sides of the ball. The last two seasons have shown just how needy this team is for guys who can make a difference and help propel this team to some wins.
And now, after some very unpopular moves last year (the Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper trades chief among them in some circles), the Raiders have the draft capital to add some fresh, young impact players.
Between the addition of Brown and that slate of draft picks – did we mention the team didn’t have to give up a first rounder for Brown? – Gruden and Mayock can transform this team overnight.
So long as they hit on their picks and don’t do something stupid. The last thing we need is for Gruden to go the full Ditka and trade away his entire draft class for one guy.
But if they can get good value for those three first rounders and pick up some solid complementary pieces in the later rounds, this is a team that (with the addition of Brown) could be poised to make some noise in 2019.
That’s the trick though – they’ll have to hit on their picks and get some guys who are as good (or better) at the next level that they were in college. Hitting on a high number of their picks can help transform this team from doormat to – well – something better than a doormat. And it can do it pretty rapidly.
Knowing they need help on both sides of the ball (AB can’t do it all), let’s take a look at one man’s post-Combine three-round mock to see how this team could potentially transform themselves in the span of one draft.
For the purposes of this mock, we are using FanSpeak’s On the Clock Simulator (using CBS Sports Big Board) and even though there will undoubtedly be jockeying for position, we are assuming no trades occur (ha ha ha) and the Raiders move forward with their slate of picks at their current positions.
So, on with the three-round show — well, technically two, since the Raiders gave up their third-rounder already…