NFL Draft Expert Talks Las Vegas Raiders Haul
The Las Vegas Raiders went after their problems on defense by selecting five defensive players in the 2021 NFL draft.
All of the players selected by the Raiders were graded higher than their anticipated draft pick.
Zack Patraw, the President of the NFL Draft Bible, joined the "Pritch & Clay" morning show with guest host Hondo Carpenter. Carpenter serves as the Editor and Publisher of Sports Illustrated's Raider Maven on Raider Nation Radio (LINK TO LISTEN LIVE). He let us know what he thought about the Raiders' defensive picks.
Patraw went in-depth on how he believes the Raiders might have gotten the most steals of the draft.
"I was extremely surprised to see (Trevon Moehrig) in the second round, first of all, I've had Richie Grant as my top overall safety, and then Trevon Moehrig right beneath him," Patraw said. "They were neck and neck when you look at my grading scale for those two guys. I was extremely surprised to see him fall to 43."
Despite the cynics' attack of the Raiders haul of fresh talent, Patraw saw things differently. "When you look at draft needs for other teams, you see Richie Grant go and then Trayvon there--that could have been the steal of the draft."
As surprised as Patraw was on seeing Moehrig in the second-round, it was a no-brainer for the Raiders to move up and get him, resulting in what can be the steal of the draft.
Moehrig was one of the top two safeties in this year's draft. Another first-round grade resulted in being selected in the second round.
Malcolm Koonce was another highly praised Raider player, per Patraw. Some teams had him as a late first-round draftee to the third round, where the Raiders selected him.
"I think he needs to get a little bit more strength, build up some muscle mass, become a little bit better in the running game. "But when you look at it, when you look at him from a pass rushing standpoint, it's really hard not to see what type of player that kid can become," said Patraw on having no denial of the skills Koonce possesses but needs to get a bit bigger and stronger.
The NFL Draft Bible does not like to give an A-B-C type of grade; they prefer to provide a pass-fail kind of grade because there's no way of grading them until a few years down the road, if and when they develop.
Alex Leatherwood: "That's a great pick, high potential type of tackle. Trayvon Moehrig, great safety, Malcolm Koonce tremendous upside, Divine Deablo, I think he has the potential to be a good rotational piece year one. Potentially (Deablo) starting to work his way into a full-time starter role as his to his career continues."
But for Patraw, one name the Raiders picked that he loves and others are overlooking stood out.
"My favorite pick, one of my favorite picks in the fourth round, was Tyree Gillespie from Missouri," Patraw said on all the Raiders' draft picks having high potential of becoming great players in the NFL, especially Gillespie.
The Raiders might have hit the jackpot in this year's NFL draft. When you look at the tape and listen to experts like Patraw, you get to see exactly what the Raiders envisioned when drafting these players.
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