Some 146 players selected in the top four rounds of this year’s draft. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein set about picking 12 of them as his favorites — three from each round. Of those six came in Rounds 3 and Round 4 and the Raiders own two of them.
One of Zierlein’s three favorite picks in round three was Raiders’ selection of Bryan Edwards at No. 81.
The bottom line is that the Raiders were able to draft a second-round talent in the middle of the third round thanks to a knee injury followed by a foot injury that prevented teams from having the full athletic testing profile on him. He’s extremely tough after the catch, will work the middle of the field with slants into the teeth of the defense and has enough speed to challenge defenders on post routes and verticals.
Also see: What scouts said about Bryan Edwards ahead of the draft
And one of his favorite picks in Round 4 was cornerback Amik Robertson at No. 139.
Robertson may not have played in a Power Five conference and he may not be the biggest or fastest cornerback out there, but there simply isn’t another cornerback in this entire draft with the ball production or competitive nature that Robertson brings. His instincts and ball skills are off the charts, but he needs to prove he can play from the slot. The fourth round was the expected round for an undersized cover man, it’s just that the Raiders may have found their best defensive back in their draft in the middle rounds.
The Raiders didn’t have a pick in the second round, but they upped their odds of getting a find in rounds three and four by having multiple picks in each round. Just for the record, I had Edwards and Robertson as two of my three best Raiders picks in this draft as well.
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