Saturday saw the linebackers take the field. And Isaiah Simmons stole the show. The 6-4. 238-pound linebacker ran a ridiculous 4.39 40-yard dash. It was so stunning, Mike Mayock gasped and Paul Guenther burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

The Raiders don’t need a linebacker. They need several linebackers. Simmons was already a top ten pick before his day at the combine. This just cements it.

Other top linebackers Kenneth Murray ran 4.52 40 and Patrick Queen ran a 4.50.

Murray hurt his ankle at the end of his 40-yard dash run, but is said to be ok and should be ready to perform at his pro day.

Player	School	Height	Weight	40 time
Joe Bachie	Michigan St.	6-2	230	4.67
Markus Bailey	Purdue	6-1	235	—
Zack Baun	Wisconsin	6-3	238	4.65
Francis Bernard	Utah	6-1	234	4.81
Daniel Bituli	Tennessee	6-3	246	4.84
Shaun Bradley	Temple	6-1	235	4.51
Jordan Brooks	Texas Tech	6-1	240	4.54
Cameron Brown	Penn St.	6-5	233	4.72
K’Lavon Chaisson	LSU	6-4	254	—
Nick Coe	Auburn	6-5	280	4.89
Carter Coughlin	Minnesota	6-3	236	4.57
Akeem Davis-Gaither	Appalachian St.	6-2	224	—
Michael Divinity	LSU	6-2	242	4.85
Troy Dye	Oregon	6-4	231	—
Tipa Galeai	Utah St.	6-5	235	—
Cale Garrett	Missouri	6-3	234	4.92
Willie Gay Jr.	Mississippi St.	6-2	243	4.46
Scoota Harris	Arkansas	6-0	234	4.69
Malik Harrison	Ohio St.	6-3	247	4.66
Khaleke Hudson	Michigan	5-11	224	4.56
Anfernee Jennings	Alabama	6-2	256	—
Clay Johnston	Baylor	6-1	227	—
Azur Kamara	Kansas	6-4	245	4.59
Terrell Lewis	Alabama	6-5	262	—
Jordan Mack	Virginia	6-2	241	—
Kamal Martin	Minnesota	6-3	240	—
Kenneth Murray	Oklahoma	6-2	241	4.52
Dante Olson	Montana	6-3	237	4.88
Jacob Phillips	LSU	6-4	229	4.66
Michael Pinckney	Miami	6-1	235	—
Shaquille Quarterman	Miami	6-1	234	4.74
Patrick Queen	LSU	6-1	229	4.50
Chapelle Russell	Temple	6-1	236	4.69
Isaiah Simmons	Clemson	6-4	238	4.39
Justin Strnad	Wake Forest	6-3	238	4.74
Darrell Taylor	Tennessee	6-4	267	—
Davion Taylor	Colorado	6-1	228	4.49
Casey Toohill	Stanford	6-4	250	4.62
Josh Uche	Michigan	6-1	245	—
Mykal Walker	Fresno St.	6-3	230	4.65
Curtis Weaver	Boise St.	6-3	265	—
Evan Weaver	California	6-2	237	4.76
Logan Wilson	Wyoming	6-2	241	4.63
David Woodward	Utah St.	6-2	230	4.79

And other drill results

Player	School	Bench	3-cone	Vert	Broad
Joe Bachie	Michigan St.	26	6.93	33.5	9-11
Markus Bailey	Purdue	15	—	—	—
Zack Baun	Wisconsin	24	7.00	32.5	9-7
Francis Bernard	Utah	19	—	32.5	10-0
Daniel Bituli	Tennessee	16	—	32	10-1
Shaun Bradley	Temple	14	7.07	32.5	10-1
Jordan Brooks	Texas Tech	—	—	—	—
Cameron Brown	Penn St.	16	—	35.5	10-3
K’Lavon Chaisson	LSU	—	—	—	—
Nick Coe	Auburn	21	—	29	9-8
Carter Coughlin	Minnesota	—	—	36	10-6
Akeem Davis-Gaither	Appalachian St.	21	—	—	—
Michael Divinity	LSU	14	—	31	9-7
Troy Dye	Oregon	—	—	—	—
Tipa Galeai	Utah St.	—	—	—	—
Cale Garrett	Missouri	—	6.91	32	10-4
Willie Gay Jr.	Mississippi St.	21	7.08	39.5	11-4
Scoota Harris	Arkansas	18	7.38	33	9-3
Malik Harrison	Ohio St.	—	6.83	36	10-2
Khaleke Hudson	Michigan	30	—	33	10-0
Anfernee Jennings	Alabama	—	—	—	—
Clay Johnston	Baylor	18	—	—	—
Azur Kamara	Kansas	13	7.20	28	10-1
Terrell Lewis	Alabama	—	—	37	10-4
Jordan Mack	Virginia	—	—	—	—
Kamal Martin	Minnesota	—	—	—	—
Kenneth Murray	Oklahoma	21	—	38	10-9
Dante Olson	Montana	15	7.00	42	10-4
Jacob Phillips	LSU	—	7.38	39	10-6
Michael Pinckney	Miami	—	—	—	—
Shaquille Quarterman	Miami	23	—	31	10-0
Patrick Queen	LSU	18	—	35	10-5
Chapelle Russell	Temple	21	7.38	35	10-1
Isaiah Simmons	Clemson	—	—	39	11-0
Justin Strnad	Wake Forest	—	—	29	9-5
Darrell Taylor	Tennessee	—	—	—	—
Davion Taylor	Colorado	21	6.96	35	10-7
Casey Toohill	Stanford	17	7.08	39	10-6
Josh Uche	Michigan	18	—	—	—
Mykal Walker	Fresno St.	20	7.09	33	10-2
Curtis Weaver	Boise St.	—	7.00	32.5	9-8
Evan Weaver	California	15	7.02	32	9-9
Logan Wilson	Wyoming	21	7.07	32	10-1
David Woodward	Utah St.	16	7.34	33.5	9-6

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[lawrence-newsletter]

It’s pretty much a lock now that Isaiah Simmons is going in the top ten of the draft. He’s probably going top five. The Clemson linebacker just ran a blazing 4.39 40.

As Daniel Jeremiah said “That’s not normal. And as the NFL Network guys like to do, they caught their old longtime draft analyst Mike Mayock reacting to Simmons’s 40 along with Paul Guenther he couldn’t help himself but just burst out laughing, probably mostly at the Mayock’s reaction and partly out of sheer astonishment himself.

We see you, @isaiahsimmons25

My goodness, do we see you. pic.twitter.com/ZZc9JB70He

— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) March 1, 2020

We’re talking about a 6-3 5/8, 238-pound human. A defender. And he’s running like a wide receiver. Simmons plays linebacker, but he could probably play one of many positions on the defense, including safety.

Mayock mentioned Simmons unprompted in his combine press conference earlier this week, essentially saying he is just a great football player, regardless of position.

“I think more and more defenses around the league are saying ‘who are the guys that you don’t necessarily have to put a label on that are dynamic football players. And, you know, Isaiah Simmons has played on the back end, he’s played at linebacker, he’s come off the edge. And really the only limitations on him are whatever the defensive coordinator puts on him.”

The Raiders sit at No. 12 overall which means there’s little doubt if they want Simmons, they’d have to trade up to get him.

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[lawrence-newsletter]

With as talented as the Raiders rookie class was last year, they were incomplete most of the year. They were without Johnathan Abram, who during training camp was looking like he could be the best in the class.

The first-round safety tore his rotator cuff early in the first game of the season and was lost for the season. It was a tough blow for Abram and for the Raiders who had high hopes for him. Luckily they had 2018 starter Erik Harris to step in, so there wasn’t a big dropoff.

This offseason, Karl Joseph looks headed for free agency, so the starting duo at this juncture figures to be Abram and Harris with little in the way of depth behind them. The best-case scenario is Abram gets healthy and stays that way. As of now, it appears he will not miss any of the team’s offseason activities.

Says he’s going to be texting Abram later to tell him to stay off the airwaves.

“He’s 100% right now, he’s ready to go,” Mike Mayock said in an interview with NFL Network at the Scouting Combine Friday. “If he stays healthy this year we’re going to have a difference-maker on the back end.”

Having Abram back will be much like having an extra first-round pick this year. Except he will be at the facility with his teammates before Mayock and Gruden draft their second class together.

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[lawrence-newsletter]

Most people who know about this stuff will tell you that running backs aren’t judged by their 40-yard dash times. A good example would be Josh Jacobs who ran a 4.60 40 at his Alabama Pro Day which wouldn’t have even been good enough for the 15 running backs at the combine. He was still the first running back taken in the draft and should have been Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Other drills, such as the 3-cone, are better indicators. The problem this year is most running backs didn’t participate in it. Perhaps because they feared they would be judged too harshly on their time, so they are holding off until their pro day to do it.

In total, just 11 running backs participated in the 3-cone, while all but perhaps those with injuries ran the 40. Let’s start with those, to at least give a size/speed ratio.

The winners in that category are Jonathan Taylor who ran a 4.39 40 with good size at 5-10, 226 pounds and AJ Dillon who has great size at 6-0, 247 pounds and ran an impressive 4.53 40. Despite being the heaviest back at the combine, Dillon had the highest vertical jump at 41 inches AND broad jump at 10-11. That’s crazy.

Player	School	Height	Weight	40 time
Salvon Ahmed	Washington	5-11	197	4.62
Cam Akers	Florida St.	5-10	217	4.47
Jet Anderson	TCU	5-10	208	4.61
LeVante Bellamy	Western Michigan	5-9	192	4.50
Eno Benjamin	Arizona State	5-9	207	4.57
Raymond Calais	Louisiana-Lafayette	5-8	188	4.42
DeeJay Dallas	Miami	5-10	217	4.58
AJ Dillon	Boston College	6-0	247	4.53
J.K. Dobbins	Ohio St.	5-9	209	—
Rico Dowdle	South Carolina	5-11	213	4.54
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	LSU	5-7	207	4.60
Darrynton Evans	Appalachian St.	5-10	203	4.41
JaMycal Hasty	Baylor	5-8	205	4.55
Brian Herrien	Georgia	5-11	209	4.62
Tony Jones	Notre Dame	5-10	220	4.68
Joshua Kelley	UCLA	5-11	212	4.49
Javon Leake	Maryland	6-0	215	4.65
Benny LeMay	Charlotte	5-8	221	4.75
Anthony McFarland	Maryland	5-8	208	4.44
Zack Moss	Utah	5-9	223	4.65
Sewo Olonilua	TCU	6-3	232	4.66
La’Mical Perine	Florida	5-11	216	4.62
Scottie Phillips	Mississippi	5-8	209	4.56
James Robinson	Illinois St.	5-9	219	4.64
D’Andre Swift	Georgia	5-8	212	4.48
J.J. Taylor	Arizona	5-5	185	4.61
Jonathan Taylor	Wisconsin	5-10	226	4.39
Patrick Taylor	Memphis	6-1	217	4.57
Ke’Shawn Vaughn	Vanderbilt	5-10	214	4.51
Mike Warren	Cincinnati	5-9	226	—

And here are the results for the rest of the drills:

Player	School	Bench	3-cone	Vert	Broad
Salvon Ahmed	Washington	—	—	34.5	10-0
Cam Akers	Florida St.	20	—	35.5	10-2
Jet Anderson	TCU	19	—	36	10-8
LeVante Bellamy	Western Michigan	16	—	39.5	10-5
Eno Benjamin	Arizona State	12	6.97	39	10-2
Raymond Calais	Louisiana-Lafayette	20	—	37.5	10-0
DeeJay Dallas	Miami	—	7.18	33.5	9-11
AJ Dillon	Boston College	23	7.19	41	10-11
J.K. Dobbins	Ohio St.	23	—	—	—
Rico Dowdle	South Carolina	—	—	38	10-7
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	LSU	15	—	39.5	10-3
Darrynton Evans	Appalachian St.	20	—	37	10-5
JaMycal Hasty	Baylor	15	—	39	10-3
Brian Herrien	Georgia	18	7.12	38.5	10-6
Tony Jones	Notre Dame	13	7.18	32.5	9-11
Joshua Kelley	UCLA	23	6.95	31	10-1
Javon Leake	Maryland	—	—	34	10-5
Benny LeMay	Charlotte	24	—	28.5	9-4
Anthony McFarland	Maryland	—	—	29.5	9-8
Zack Moss	Utah	19	—	33	—
Sewo Olonilua	TCU	25	—	36	10-3
La’Mical Perine	Florida	22	7.13	35	9-10
Scottie Phillips	Mississippi	29	7.40	30	9-6
James Robinson	Illinois St.	24	7.03	40	10-5
D’Andre Swift	Georgia	—	—	35.5	10-1
J.J. Taylor	Arizona	19	7.00	34.5	9-10
Jonathan Taylor	Wisconsin	17	7.01	36	10-3
Patrick Taylor	Memphis	15	—	34	10-3
Ke’Shawn Vaughn	Vanderbilt	—	—	32	9-9
Mike Warren	Cincinnati	16	—	—	—

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[lawrence-newsletter]

There is some speed at receiver in this draft. Which is good because the Raiders are looking for some. Desperately in fact. The expected fastest receiver was Henry Ruggs III and he didn’t disappoint, running a combine best 4.27 40-yard dash.

There were five others who put in times under 4.4. They were Quez Watkins (4.35), Denzel Mims (4.38), Darnell Mooney (4.38), Devin Duvernay (4.39), and Antonio Gibson (4.39).

The six sub-4.4 40-yard dashes by wide receivers is the second most of any combine the past 13 years. Only 2019 had more (7).

Other notable sub-4.5 times include Justin Jefferson (4.43), Jerry Jeudy (4.45), and Jalen Reagor (4.47). CeeDee Lamb ran a 4.5 flat.

Here are all the 40 times for the receivers from the combine.

Player	School	Height	Weight	40 time
Brandon Aiyuk	Arizona State	6-0	205	4.50
Omar Bayless	Arkansas State	6-1	212	4.62
Lynn Bowden	Kentucky	5-11	204	—
Tony Brown	Colorado	6-1	198	4.65
Lawrence Cager	Georgia	6-5	220	—
Marquez Callaway	Tennessee	6-1	205	4.55
Quintez Cephus	Wisconsin	6-1	202	4.73
Chase Claypool	Notre Dame	6-4	238	4.42
Tyrie Cleveland	Florida	6-2	209	4.46
Isaiah Coulter	Rhode Island	6-2	198	4.45
Gabriel Davis	UCF	6-2	216	4.54
Quartney Davis	Texas A&M	6-1	201	4.54
Devin Duvernay	Texas	5-10	200	4.39
Bryan Edwards	South Carolina	6-3	212	—
Chris Finke	Notre Dame	5-9	186	4.57
Aaron Fuller	Washington	5-11	188	4.59
Antonio Gandy-Golden	Liberty	6-4	223	4.60
Antonio Gibson	Memphis	6-0	228	4.39
Stephen Guidry	Mississippi St.	6-3	201	4.47
KJ Hamler	Penn St.	5-9	178	—
Tee Higgins	Clemson	6-4	216	—
John Hightower	Boise St.	6-1	189	4.43
K.J. Hill	Ohio St.	6-0	196	4.60
Isaiah Hodgins	Oregon St.	6-4	210	4.61
Trishton Jackson	Syracuse	6-1	197	4.50
Justin Jefferson	LSU	6-1	202	4.43
Van Jefferson	Florida	6-1	200	—
Jauan Jennings	Tennessee	6-3	215	4.72
Jerry Jeudy	Alabama	6-1	193	4.45
Collin Johnson	Texas	6-6	222	—
Juwan Johnson	Oregon	6-4	230	4.58
Tyler Johnson	Minnesota	6-1	206	—
CeeDee Lamb	Oklahoma	6-2	198	4.50
Kalija Lipscomb	Vanderbilt	6-0	207	4.57
Austin Mack	Ohio St.	6-1	208	4.59
Denzel Mims	Baylor	6-3	207	4.38
Darnell Mooney	Tulane	5-10	176	4.38
K.J. Osborn	Miami	5-11	203	4.48
Aaron Parker	Rhode Island	6-2	209	4.57
Dezmon Patmon	Washington St.	6-4	225	4.48
Donovan Peoples-Jones	Michigan	6-2	212	4.48
Malcolm Perry	Navy	5-9	186	4.63
Michael Pittman	USC	6-4	223	4.52
James Proche	SMU	5-11	201	—
Jalen Reagor	TCU	5-11	206	4.47
Joe Reed	Virginia	6-0	224	4.47
Kendrick Rogers	Texas A&M	6-4	208	4.51
Henry Ruggs III	Alabama	5-11	188	4.27
Laviska Shenault Jr.	Colorado	6-1	227	4.58
Darrell Stewart	Michigan St.	6-0	212	—
Freddie Swain	Florida	6-0	197	4.46
Jeff Thomas	Miami	5-9	170	4.45
Ben Victor	Ohio St.	6-4	198	4.60
Quez Watkins	Southern Miss	6-0	185	4.35
Cody White	Michigan St.	6-3	217	4.66

And results for other drills:

Player	School	Bench	3-cone	Vertical	Broad
Brandon Aiyuk	Arizona State	11	—	40	10-8
Omar Bayless	Arkansas State	11	7.35	36	10-3
Lynn Bowden	Kentucky	13	—	—	—
Tony Brown	Colorado	14	7.21	33.5	9-11
Lawrence Cager	Georgia	—	—	—	—
Marquez Callaway	Tennessee	—	—	38	10-6
Quintez Cephus	Wisconsin	23	7.20	38.5	10-4
Chase Claypool	Notre Dame	19	—	40.5	10-6
Tyrie Cleveland	Florida	13	—	39.5	10-6
Isaiah Coulter	Rhode Island	—	7.28	36	10-1
Gabriel Davis	UCF	14	7.08	35	10-4
Quartney Davis	Texas A&M	—		35.5	—
Devin Duvernay	Texas	—	7.13	35.5	10-3
Bryan Edwards	South Carolina	—	—	—	—
Chris Finke	Notre Dame	7	—	40	—
Aaron Fuller	Washington	—	7.14	34	9-10
Antonio Gandy-Golden	Liberty	22	7.33	36	10-7
Antonio Gibson	Memphis	16	—	35	9-10
Stephen Guidry	Mississippi St.	—	7.31	34	10-5
KJ Hamler	Penn St.	15	—	—	—
Tee Higgins	Clemson	—	—	—	—
John Hightower	Boise St.	—	7.07	38.5	10-2
K.J. Hill	Ohio St.	17	—	32.5	9-6
Isaiah Hodgins	Oregon St.	9	7.01	36.5	10-4
Trishton Jackson	Syracuse	—	—	36	9-9
Justin Jefferson	LSU	—	—	37.5	10-6
Van Jefferson	Florida	—	—	—	—
Jauan Jennings	Tennessee	—	—	29	9-11
Jerry Jeudy	Alabama	—	—	35	10-0
Collin Johnson	Texas	17	—	—	—
Juwan Johnson	Oregon	14	6.94	33	10-4
Tyler Johnson	Minnesota	—	—	—	—
CeeDee Lamb	Oklahoma	11	—	34.5	10-4
Kalija Lipscomb	Vanderbilt	16	—	32	10-7
Austin Mack	Ohio St.	—	—	31.5	9-9
Denzel Mims	Baylor	16	6.66	38.5	10-11
Darnell Mooney	Tulane	9	—	37	10-4
K.J. Osborn	Miami	18	7.00	37.5	10-3
Aaron Parker	Rhode Island	12	6.94	26.5	9-4
Dezmon Patmon	Washington St.	15	7.28	36	11-0
Donovan Peoples-Jones	Michigan	—	—	44.5	11-7
Malcolm Perry	Navy	10	7.12	36	10-2
Michael Pittman	USC	13	6.96	36.5	10-1
James Proche	SMU	20	7.27	34.5	—
Jalen Reagor	TCU	17	7.31	42	11-6
Joe Reed	Virginia	21	—	38	10-3
Kendrick Rogers	Texas A&M	17	7.13	35.5	10-4
Henry Ruggs III	Alabama	—	—	42	10-11
Laviska Shenault Jr.	Colorado	17	—	—	—
Darrell Stewart	Michigan St.	15	—	35	9-9
Freddie Swain	Florida	16	7.05	36.5	10-4
Jeff Thomas	Miami	—	—	36.5	10-5
Ben Victor	Ohio St.	9	7.10	35	10-8
Quez Watkins	Southern Miss	—	7.28	36.5	10-5
Cody White	Michigan St.	—	7.19	35.5	10-0

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[lawrence-newsletter]

Most defenses need at least three good starting linebackers, making it probably the most important position on defense. The Raiders need three. I mean, they literally will be looking for at least three new starting linebackers this offseason. At least a couple of them figures to come from the draft.

Here are the ones who are at the scouting combine and how they measured up:

Player	Height	Weight	Arm	Wingspan
Joe Bachie	6-1″	230	31 5/8″	76 7/8″
Markus Bailey	6-0 1/8″	235	31 1/2″	76 1/4″
Zack Baun	6-2 3/8″	238	32 6/8″	78 1/4″
Francis Bernard	6-0 3/8″	234	31 7/8″	77 1/4″
Daniel Bituli	6-2″	246	34 2/8″	83 3/8″
Shaun Bradley	6-0 5/8″	235	31 3/4″	74 3/8″
Jordan Brooks	6-0″	240	32 7/8″	79 3/8″
Cameron Brown	6-5 1/4″	233	34″	78 7/8″
K’Lavon Chaisson	6-3″	254	32 1/4″	79 1/4″
Nick Coe	6-4 5/8″	280	33 3/4″	80 3/4″
Carter Coughlin	6-3 1/8″	236	31 3/8″	76 7/8″
Akeem Davis-Gaither	6-1 1/2″	224	31 1/8″	75 1/8″
Michael Divinity	6-1 5/8″	242	33 5/8″	80″
Troy Dye	6-3 1/4″	231	32 1/4″	78″
Tipa Galeai	6-4 5/8″	235	33 5/8″	81″
Cale Garrett	6-1 3/4″	234	31 1/4″	75 1/4″
Willie Gay Jr.	6-1 1/8″	243	32 5/8″	77 7/8″
Scoota Harris	5-11 5/8″	234	31 3/8″	75 5/8″
Malik Harrison	6-2 5/8″	247	32 6/8″	79 3/8″
Khaleke Hudson	5-11″	224	29 3/8″	72 5/8″
Anfernee Jennings	6-2 1/8″	256	32 7/8″	79 4/8″
Clay Johnston	6-1″	227	30 4/8″	72 2/8″
Azur Kamara	6-3 1/4″	245	35 2/8″	82 5/8″
Terrell Lewis	6-5 1/4″	262	33 7/8″	83 3/8″
Jordan Mack	6-2 3/4″	241	31 2/8″	75 5/8″
Kamal Martin	6-2 7/8″	240	34″	81″
Kenneth Murray	6-2 1/2″	241	32 6/8″	80″
Dante Olson	6-2 3/8″	237	32 3/8″	76 3/8″
Jacob Phillips	6-3″	229	32 3/8″	78 2/8″
Michael Pinckney	5-11 1/8″	235	32 3/8″	77 2/8″
Shaquille Quarterman	6-0 1/2″	234	31 5/8″	75 1/8″
Patrick Queen	6-0 1/4″	229	31 5/8″	76 7/8″
Chapelle Russell	6-2″	236	32 3/8″	76″
Isaiah Simmons	6-3 5/8″	238	33 3/8″	81 7/8″
Justin Strnad	6-3 3/8″	238	31 6/8″	78″
Darrell Taylor	6-3 5/8″	267	33″	80″
Davion Taylor	6-0 1/2″	228	32 1/8″	76 6/8″
Casey Toohill	6-4 3/8″	250	33 4/8″	79 5/8″
Josh Uche	6-1 1/4″	245	33 5/8″	80″
Mykal Walker	6-3″	230	32 4/8″	79 7/8″
Curtis Weaver	6-2 3/8″	265	32 3/8″	78 1/8″
Evan Weaver	6-2 1/8″	237	31 5/8″	77 1/8″
Logan Wilson	6-2 1/8″	241	32 3/8″	76 5/8″
David Woodward	6-1 3/4″	230	31 5/8″	75 5/8″

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[lawrence-newsletter]

How anyone can somehow not know they have several parking tickets is a mystery. If I have one parking ticket, I am made well aware of it. And yet Ross Blacklock came to the combine this week apparently blissfully unaware he had 37 parking tickets. THIRTY-SEVEN!!. It took the intrepid research of the Raiders scouting department to let him know.

Ross Blacklock has 21 formal interviews. Said he prepared for weird questions but when he met with Oakland, he learned something new about himself: “The Raiders told me about my 37 parking tickets that I didn’t know about.”

— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) February 27, 2020

“I did not know about the parking tickets,” said Blacklock at his press conference. “They take them out our checks. They pay for it at TCU, so I was confused that he said that. I was like ‘Oh, I didn’t know that.’ But I guess that’s a good thing because I ain’t got no bad record. Clean dude.”

Blacklock sees it as a good thing because he figures if the Raiders are being that thorough and digging that deep into this record if there were worse things than parking tickets, the Raiders would have found those too.

It’s pretty clear the Raiders care a bit more about character than most teams. Mike Mayock said recently that what most pleased him about his first draft class was that they were all who the Raiders thought they were when they drafted them. He was speaking mostly of their intangibles like character, work ethic, and leadership qualities.

Having 37 parking tickets is not really a positive. Not knowing you have them isn’t either. But he’s right that it could be worse. It’s up to the Raiders or any other team if they view this as a red flag.

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