With the Las Vegas Raiders picks in the books, here are some early thoughts:
The Trenches: The Raiders worked on both offense and defense. They took two players at both spots. They took on Memphis’ Dylan Parham (third round) and Ohio State’s Thayer Munford (seventh round) on offense and defense against Neal Farrell (LSU, fourth round) and Matthew Butler (Tennessee, fifth round). Parham and Munford are both versatile. Farrell is a good run stuffer and Butler can provide inside pass rush. So the Raiders gave themselves some moat flexibility with two-thirds of their six-player draft class.
Aggressive: New Las Vegas general manager Dave Ziegler changed four trades, including the trade and returning at No. 126 with two trades with the Minnesota Vikings. Ziegler, of course, came from New England, which has led the NFL in draft trades this century. So his aggressive nature is not surprising.
Favorite Pick: I have a feeling Butler will be a nice player for the Raiders. He’s played against top rivals and is a leader with a good head on his shoulders. He might be around for a while.
Message to Jacobs: While the Raiders focused on the trenches, they also worked on their offensive backfield, adding running backs Zamir White (Georgia, fourth round) and Brittain Brown (UCLA, seventh round). The running back signings came a day after the Raiders announced they would make 2019 first-round pick Josh Jacobs a free agent next year. Right now, it’s hard to picture Jacobs in Las Vegas in 2023.
Get champions: White’s pick extended a streak in which the Raiders drafted a player from the national championship team to three straight years.
What’s next? I could see the Raiders add an experienced cornerback. It was a position they studied thoroughly in the draft. Available free-agent cornerbacks include Joe Haden, Trae Waynes, Chris Harris, Kevin King, Kyle Fuller, Xavier Rhodes, Bryce Callahan and Jason Verrett. Safety could be a position the Raiders would also like to improve.