Draft season is upon us ladies and gentlemen! With the NFL Draft less than a month away, I thought it would be a good time to drop a full 7 round mock; with trades! But this year, I wanted to do it a bit differently. Instead of your basic 7 round mock where you scroll through pages of picks and find your team’s selections with relatively no commentary, I decided to break up the mock and do an article on each individual team’s haul! Giving you a breakdown of what each team brought in and how I think it could help. So without further adieu, let’s kick things off!
With the 17th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders select…
- Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech(1st round)
- Trevon Moehrig, S, TCU(2nd round)
- Deonte Brown, OL, Alabama(3rd round)
- Jay Tufele, DT, USC(3rd round)
- Chris Rumph, DE, Duke(4th round)
- Tuf Borland, LB, Ohio St(5th round)
- James Hudson, OT, Cincinnati(5th round)
- Tre Norwood, CB, Oklahoma(6th round)
The Las Vegas Raiders come into this draft with a lot more needs than originally thought. They let a few players walk in free agency and made a few trades that left them with a few areas of focus; offensive line and bulking up the defense to compete with their division foes.
With their first pick, the Raiders grab one of the top tackles in the draft Christian Darrisaw. Darrisaw is pretty universally ranked in the top 3 for tackles and is a player that can be plugged in at LT for many many years. They also add Deonte Brown, a big and athletic offensive lineman that can jump right into the interior offensive line and has the upside to be one of the best in the game. Lastly, on offense, they grab James Hudson later in the draft. Hudson is a quality tackle that would be perfect at RT if needed.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Raiders load up with talent and upside. They end up seeing the top safety in the draft, Trevon Moehrig, fall to them. Moehrig is a big, athletic safety that can absolutely fly around the field and is a ball hawk. He can lead the Raiders’ group of defensive backs for many years. Jay Tufele is a very athletic defensive tackle with a quick first move and can get after the QB. After that, the Raiders grab Chris Rumph, Tuf Borland, and Tre Norwood. These three players can provide depth to their defense with a ton of upside and could eventually turn into full-time starters.
Overall, the Raiders add a bunch of talent to their roster. Darrisaw is a great pick-up and can be a high-end LT for many, many years. Trevon Moehrig is the top safety in this class and a huge addition to helping compete against some high-flying offenses in their division.
