The 2019 draft, a draft that was bound to be pivotal for the Raiders, holding three first round picks and four inside the top 40 of the class in general. The class featured a strong lack of talent that would help the Raiders, being carried heavily by Maxx Crosby, and honestly Hunter Renfrow as well.
A fun idea I had was a re-draft, but not any re-draft that just picks the best player, I wanted to re-draft the Raiders for 2019 but use the same positions at each selection. For example at 4th overall, while I would desperately want to take a defensive tackle, the Raiders selected EDGE Clelin Ferrell and thus they’ll stick at EDGE. A few rules:
- Any player can be selected, but only one’s who were available with that pick to start with, for example a busted first round pick, who still produced but not at a first round value I can’t take in round 3 or 4
- I MUST take a player at the same position that was taken at that selection (QB for QB, RB for RB, etc)
- The overall selections remain the same, I won’t assume a trade does or doesn’t happen (example the Raiders traded down to 40 for Mullen, I’ll keep them at 40 instead of 35)
I plan to do a 2020 to 2024 re-draft and then my own personal “what I would do” 2025 re-draft so keep an eye on those.
Round 1, 4th Overall: EDGE Brian Burns (16th overall)
Original Pick: EDGE Clelin Ferrell
- Of the entire DT and EDGE rushers taken in the 2019 class, the Raiders missed on a lot of top talent but that changes with Burns. Burns has turned in a massive career with 384 tackles, 98 TFL, 155 QB hits, 71 sacks, 28 PBU, and 14 FF while also turning in 401 pressures, though his win rate of just 12.7% has been disappointing. Additionally, Burns has been an adequate run defender, but rushing across from Maxx Crosby would fix a lot of his issues being a “robin” instead of “batman”.
Round 1, 24th Overall: RB Josh Jacobs (24th overall)
Original Pick: RB Josh Jacobs
- The Raiders certainly don’t regret this pick, and while I would have liked to take a different position than RB, largely due to a rebuilding team and the value of a RB (see Jeanty), I made the rules and I’ll stick by them. Jacobs had a phenomenal start to his career being a 3x Pro Bowler, All-Pro, and finishing 2nd in ROTY in 2019. Jacobs has taken his place in the NFL as a top 10 runningback, and looking back while the value was not the best for Las Vegas with a runningback the player was.
Round 1, 27th Overall: SAF Julian Love (108th overall)
Original Pick: SAF Jonathan Abram
- I may be flirting with my own rules here, but so be it. Love was a CB at Notre Dame, though he immediately...
Silver And Black Pride
