Ziegler: Draft Players Who Have an “Upward Trajectory”

An important trait for Raiders General Manager Dave Ziegler when he looks at players are those who have an "upward trajectory" and constantly are improving their game.

During an NFL draft, teams aren’t just looking for the best talent available to them right now.

They’re also looking for players who are continuing to improve.

That was the case with a couple of the Las Vegas Raiders picks, notably the third round, 126th overall pick, defensive tackle Neil Farrell from LSU, and the fifth-round, 175th overall pick, defensive tackle Matthew Butler from Tennessee.

Both players had career-highs in 2021, with Farrell booking a career-best 9.5 tackles for losses with two sacks, and Butler setting career-highs with 47 tackles, 8.5 tackles for losses and five sacks.

“It's an important quality that you want to see,” Ziegler said at the post-draft press conference. “You want to draft players who are improving.

“Everybody is developing. College players, pro players, things of that nature. But obviously, you want to see a college player comes in at 18, 19 years old and you ideally want to see a player who has gradually improved their body, improved their football intelligence, have improved as players, and kind of have had this upward trajectory.”

Ziegler doesn’t want stagnant players who are happy with where they’re at. He wants players who are consistently improving on their craft.

“Having players who have done that, that's an attractive trait and you want to -- you want guys who you can develop and grow, and when they've shown that they've done that at the college level, you have an anticipation you're going to be able to continue to go down that path with them once you get them on your team,” Ziegler added.

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