The 2019 draft in which the Raiders grabbed three players out of Clemson seemed like it could have been somewhat of a coincidence. They had just won the National Championship, and picking from that team made sense, but also the board may have just fell that way.
Apparently there was no coincidence whatsoever.
At the bottom of the third round, the Raiders dipped back in the Clemson pool, getting linebacker Tanner Muse and then with their next pick in the 4th round, they did it again, getting guard John Simpson.
So, in two drafts under Mike Mayock as GM, the Raiders have five newly drafted Clemson players, all of whom were on that same 2019 National Championship team.
Simpson said he is looking forward to reuniting with the rest of them in Las Vegas.
“Oh yeah, all those guys. [Trayvon] Mullen, ‘Cle’ [Clelin Ferrell], Tanner [Muse], Hunter [Renfrow], and all those guys,” Simpson said over conference call shortly after his selection. “We’re all like brothers. It’s a bond that you can’t break.”
When the Raiders drafted Ferrell, Mullen, and Renfrow last year, they had a day during OTA’s they all dressed in Clemson orange. They even took a picture to commemorate it.
If/when the team is able to reconvene, they will have an opportunity to do this again. This time with (at least) a couple more players in the middle.
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