After free agency has essentially wrapped up for the Raiders, it’s clear that the team has two big needs still on their roster. They need a No. 1 receiver and they could use a starting-caliber cornerback.
While the 2020 draft is incredibly rich with wide receiver talent, the same can’t be said about the cornerback position. Jeffrey Okudah is a lock to go inside the top-10, but the position gets dicey after that.
By most accounts, CJ Henderson from Florida is the No. 2 cornerback in this draft class. Henderson tested like an elite athlete at the NFL Combine and his 2018 tape with the Gators was fantastic. However, it seems very unlikely that he will fall to No. 19 given how many teams in the middle of the draft need cornerback help.
In Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft at ESPN, he gave the Raiders Henderson at pick No. 12, passing on the likes of CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III all on the board. Here is Kiper’s reasoning behind the selection:
After the Raiders signed both Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkowski in free agency, you can scratch off-ball linebacker from their list of needs. That still leaves wide receiver and cornerback, though. And since Las Vegas has two first-round picks and this class of receivers is much deeper at the top than the cornerback group, let’s give Jon Gruden & Co. a potential No. 1 corner in Henderson here. He had an up-and-down 2019 season, but he cemented his standing as the second-ranked cornerback in this class at the combine, where he ran a 4.39 40. The Raiders get to grab a receiver at No. 19. Could Vegas be an option if one of the other quarterbacks — Justin Herbert or Jordan Love — make it here?
Henderson would be an instant starter for the Raiders and probably their best cornerback. He’s also worth a top-15 selection due to his ball skills and makeup speed.
If the Raiders opt to go this route, they could be looking at selecting the No. 4 or No. 5 receiver at pick No. 19. In this mock, Kiper has the Raiders select Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins, but Baylor’s Denzel Mims and LSU’s Justin Jefferson could be options as well.
This is an interesting scenario that hasn’t been discussed enough but feels very realistic considering the talent at the receiver position. Don’t be surprised if Henderson starts gaining some momentum as a possible pick at No. 12 over the next few weeks.
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