Oakland Raiders: Updated post-Free Agency 3-round mock draft

Still needing help on the edge, the Gruden/Mayock brain trust uses their second-round pick to add another body. This time, it’s Louisiana Tech’s Jaylon Ferguson.

Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing in at 271 pounds, Ferguson is a mountain of a man. He’s got decent speed, DraftScout having him pegged between 4.68 on the low end and 4.90 on the higher end. He’s quick enough to get around the edge and powerful enough to battle with opposing tackles.

Over his four seasons at Louisiana Tech, Ferguson put up big-time numbers, racking up 45 sacks and 67.5 tackles for a loss among his 187 total tackles. He saved his best for his final season as a Bulldog, notching 17.5 sacks and 26.5 tackles for a loss. It was the cherry on top of a pretty productive college career.

With his size and college production, you’d think Ferguson would be getting more first-round run than he’s getting. But some scouts say they’re not sold on him, believing that his effort level was inconsistent and that he has some technical issues to address if he wants to be a viable NFL edge rusher — most scouts believing he’s a Day 2 pick.

His strength, instincts, nose for the quarterback, and raw talent though, could intrigue Gruden and Mayock enough for them to take a flier on him. It could simply be a matter of coaching him up and adding to a repertoire of moves to make him as hellacious and formidable on an NFL field as he was on a college field.

Adding Ferguson to a rotation with Key and Ferrell would give the Raiders some strong, powerful, and freakishly athletic edge rushers who would almost certainly improve upon the anemic 10 total sacks by defensive linemen Oakland logged last season.