The 2020 NFL Draft has reached its conclusion and its now time for everyone’s favorite moment of the offseason; draft grades. Up first is Mel Kiper Jr of ESPN, who gave the Raiders a “B” for this year’s class. Take a look at Kiper’s reasoning behind the grade below and why he might not be as high on this class as most:
This is a very Raiders draft, right? They reached for the fastest prospect in the class in the first round. They took three wide receivers in their first four picks. And coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock took two more Clemson prospects, making that five total over the past two drafts.
They clearly needed help at wide receiver, but I still thought they could take quarterback Jordan Love in Round 1 — he was on the board for both of their picks. Instead they’re going to try to help incumbent starter Derek Carr as much as possible in 2020. Henry Ruggs III (12) is an underrated route runner, and he can score any time he gets the ball in his hands. And with Carr averaging a league-low 6.2 air yards per attempt last season, expect Ruggs to get a lot of those short targets. I scratched my head a little bit at taking the next two wideouts in Lynn Bowden Jr. (80) and Bryan Edwards (81), even if Gruden and Mayock see Bowden as more of a versatile running back. This team has more needs than wide receiver.
Kiper clearly wasn’t thrilled with the idea of the Raiders selecting Henry Ruggs III as the top receiver in the class, but the selection makes even more sense when you factor in that they added Bryan Edwards in the third round.
And while Kiper is right that the Raiders had other needs besides receiver, it was clearly their biggest hole on the roster entering the draft. Their other top need was at cornerback and the team drafted two potential starters in Damon Arnette and Amik Robertson. All in all, it’s tough to complain about what the Raiders did in this class as they added talent and depth to their two biggest areas of concern.
It will be fascinating to see how this draft class plays in 2020 and if they can match the production of the 2019 class. If it can come anywhere near that haul, the Raiders should be legit contenders in the AFC this season.
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