Oakland Raiders: Grading the 2019 NFL Draft class
By Justin Fried
The Oakland Raiders had quite the eventful draft weekend making nine selections in total. Here are our grades for their entire 2019 NFL Draft class.
We’re now a week removed from the final day of the 2019 NFL Draft and we can now sit back and analyze exactly what the Oakland Raiders accomplished last weekend. With nine selections in total — including three first-rounders —the team had plenty of draft capital to work with to fill the needs on their roster.
And after a disappointing 4-12 season, it’s safe to say that there were plenty of needs to fill.
The Raiders offense underwhelmed in 2018 as the team finished 28th in points per game while their defense was even worse averaging a league-worst 29.2 points allowed per game. As such, Oakland clearly had plenty of work to do on both sides of the ball.
As a whole, the Raiders did do a good job of addressing key areas of concern, even if some fans didn’t particularly agree with the picks that were made. That said, there’s plenty to delve into with this draft starting with the team’s surprising fourth overall selection.
Let’s get into it and grade the complete 2019 NFL Draft class of the Oakland Raiders.
Round 1 (4th Overall) — Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson
In a move that undoubtedly obliterated the accuracy of essentially every mock draft, the Raiders made the shocking decision to select Clemson edge rusher Clelin Ferrell with the fourth overall selection.
Now, there’s a lot to unpack with this pick from both a player evaluation standpoint and a true value standpoint. There are some who agree with the pick and some who don’t, but it does seem that the consensus is that it was a bit of a reach.
And it certainly isn’t unfair to say that.
The vast majority of mock drafts leading up to Thursday night had Ferrell going somewhere in the range of 15-25. You would have been hard-pressed to find one that had him going in the top 10 and there may not have been a single mock draft made that had him being selected with one of the first four selections.
But does this mean that the pick was a mistake? No, not necessarily.
Ferrell is a very solid, well-rounded prospect who was extremely productive during his time at Clemson. The 21-year-old totaled 27 sacks over his three years of playing time while with the Tigers and was a two-time First-Team All-American.
There may not have been a more complete edge prospect in this class than Ferrell as his run defense remains just as much of a strength as his pass rush ability. While he may never be on the same level as a Khalil Mack or J.J. Watt as a true pass rusher, he projects as a long-term starter and an ideal 4-3 defensive end.
At the end of the day was it worth it to take him as high as No. 4? Perhaps not. But the Raiders needed to hit on an edge rusher in this class and they took one of the safest players in the entire draft at the position.
When you think of it that way, it’s hard to argue with that logic.