We are about to enter draft week. As we get closer the hot stove will begin glowing red. It’s gonna get real smokey out here. Some of that smoke is distraction while some will get cooking. While some is real, but if the draft doesn’t shake out a certain way, it doesn’t happen. All we can do is examine all the rumors and buzz to see the possibilities. And of course, we will see how it could affect the Raiders.
ESPN put out a piece Sunday based on rumors of which NFL teams could be looking to move around the draft board and which prospects those teams could be looking to move up to take,
One of the hotter spots of the draft each year is the lower part of the first round and it often involves quarterbacks as teams want to jump up to make sure they get one. This draft also has a deep wide receiver group which could have a team or two trading up to ensure they get one from the second tier.
The Raiders are expected to go after one of the top receivers with their pick at 12 overall. The top two are Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb and Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy. Either of whom would be a good selection at 12.
Seven picks later, at 19 overall, the Raiders are on the clock again, but they could be open for business to move down a few spots, especially when you consider they need a cornerback and there is a cluster of good ones expected to be taken in the bottom of the first, and they could get one of them even after a trade down.
ESPN mentions a few teams looking to make a trade. A couple of them might make sense for the Raiders.
Cincinnati Bengals at 33rd overall pick.
With the first pick of the second round, the Bengals are said to be looking to get one of those lower first round wide receivers and a move to 19 would certainly give them their pick of the litter.
If the Bengals wish to jump from 33 to 19, they would need to add pick 65 at the top of the 3rd as well as their pick at 147 at the top of the 5th in order to satisfy the trade value chart.
Going from 19 to 33 is a sizable drop, but the report cites several execs who think there will be quite a few talented cornerbacks fall out of the first round.
If you are skeptical this will happen, you need only go back to last year. To the surprise of many, there were several of the draft’s top cornerbacks still available that top of the second round. If you’ll recall, the Raiders had pick 35 and with so much cornerback talent on the board, they traded down twice and still got Trayvon Mullen at pick 40.
The proposed trade down to 33 with the Bengals would give them four picks in the third round, which would raise the possibility they could package them to move into the bottom of the second. giving them two picks in that Mayock coveted 20-60 range.
But about those quarterbacks who could have teams trading up…
Utah State QB Jordan love
I mean providing Jon Gruden wouldn’t look to pull the trigger on drafting him, there are several teams who could be on the phone making the Raiders an offer should Love still be there.
Many believe the Patriots could be interested in Love at pick 23, which means teams will be thinking they need to jump ahead of the Pats to get him. In turn the Pats may know they would have to move up to keep that from happening. The Patriots are not known for trading up in the draft, but that was when they had the security of Tom Brady at QB. Now they have to replace him.
Teams besides the Patriots who are said to have done a lot of research on Love include the Saints, Dolphins, Packers, Washington, and Panthers. Miami’s interest in Love would obviously be contingent upon whether they select one of the draft’s top three QB’s with their pick at 5th overall. Though that certainly wouldn’t stop them from moving up to 19 for a player at another position.
Three of the above teams could probably swing a trade to move to 19. This is how those deals might look using the trade value chart.
Saints get pick 19; Raiders get picks 24 and 88
Dolphins get picks 19 and 81; Raiders get picks 26 and 39
Packers get pick 19; Raiders get picks 30 and 62
What’s great about these deals is none have the Raiders dropping from 19 out of the first round. Each keep two first round picks while picking up a second rounder.
You can see the draft trade value chart as well as a few more Raiders trade possibilities here.
