Raiders Could Get Lucky with Ziegler's First-Round Pick
The Las Vegas Raiders will make the seventh overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft when the first round begins on Thursday, April 27. This is the highest they had selected since the 2019 NFL Draft when they picked fourth overall.
General Manager Dave Ziegler is in his second year in charge but will be making his first-ever first-round pick with the Raiders, as he traded away their first-round pick in 2022 to acquire star wide receiver Davante Adams.
The Raiders are in one of the more peculiar positions in the NFL. They are only one season removed from a playoff appearance and now head into year two of the Ziegler-Josh McDaniels regime. However, that regime did not have an endearing introduction to fans, as the team’s record was four games worse than the year before.
However, the Raiders were just a couple of bad breaks away from being a playoff team again, as many games got away from them in the fourth quarter.
They have re-tooled the roster during free agency, adding quality players at positions they badly needed to address. With the seventh pick in the NFL Draft, the Raiders could go in a number of directions. They might just miss out on the top quarterbacks in the draft, but that means some very good defensive players may fall into their lap.
The Raiders at No. 7 could land one of the top defensive backs in the draft in Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez or one of the best players in the draft in Georgia’s Jalen Carter, who might fall for various concerns. Both positions need to be addressed, and it would be incredibly fortunate for the Raiders if one of these players were available.
Ziegler’s inaugural first-round pick comes in the top 10 for a team that, on paper, probably isn’t a team that would pick in the top 10. For a regime brought in to win now and with a re-tooled roster, this selection could add a lot to a team looking to get back to the playoffs.
The 2023 NFL Draft will go from April 27-29 and be held at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period began at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15.
The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this offseason.
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