It’s been a busy offseason for the Las Vegas Raiders, highlighted by a trade for star receiver Davante Adams. However, the trade meant the Raiders would not be making a selection in this year’s draft until the third round. Even with the lack of higher-tier draft picks, the Raiders were still under scrutiny for their moves last weekend. Let’s break it down.
Make sure to check out all of our other NFL Draft Recaps.
Make sure to check out all of our NFL Draft Scouting Reports.
Best Pick: Dylan Parham (Round 3, Pick 90)
This was the first selection general manager Dave Ziegler and crew made of the draft, and it’s a good one. Parham is a very smart, polished, and powerful offensive guard. There’s a good chance he can come in and start right away for a Las Vegas line that was pretty dreadful last season. If so, this would be tremendous value in this third round.
Grade: B+
Worst Pick: Neil Farrell Jr. (Round 4, Pick 126)
Farrell had horrendous pre-draft test numbers, putting up a 1.31 raw athletic score. While this doesn’t write off anyone’s career right away, Farrell was in no way a fourth-rounder. The lack of explosiveness will hurt Farrell off the bat as he’ll struggle to make an impact early for that Raider defensive line. With time, there is some potential in Farrell’s game, but the pick is still very questionable.
Grade: D
Sleeper Pick: Matthew Butler (Round 5, Pick 175)
One round after addressing the interior defensive line with Farrell, Las Vegas went right back to it in the fifth and got a better player. Butler had a very nice game against Alabama last season and showed nice athleticism on the tape. Butler has a better shot of playing early in his career over Farrell, and the potential is higher as well.
Grade: B-
Summary
There wasn’t many standout picks made by the Raiders, but a good amount of them will equate to nice value, should everything go the way it’s supposed to. Parham looks like a potential starter in the NFL, along with Butler sometime down the road. Las Vegas also took running back Zamir White in this draft, the potential replacement to Josh Jacobs as he heads for free agency next season. This was a solid draft for the Raiders as they look to get back to the playoffs next season.
Grade: B-
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