Raiders 2019 NFL Draft Pick Or Pass: Big Board

Jeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel
4 Min Read
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL Draft is finally almost here and as we wrap up our series breaking down a number of the prospects in play with one of the Oakland Raiders’ first-round picks, the bow on the entire set is going to be my big board. At the end, I’ll highlight some notes on my thinking, but this is simply a 1-27 list of my preferred players (for the Raiders) this year. As you might have guessed, this does factor in team need — but that doesn’t trump overall grade, it’s simply a combination of the two.

So, here goes…

  1. Nick Bosa
  2. Quinnen Williams
  3. Josh Allen
  4. Devin White
  5. Ed Oliver
  6. Montez Sweat
  7. TJ Hockenson
  8. Rashan Gary
  9. Devin Bush
  10. Brian Burns
  11. Christian Wilkins
  12. Clelin Ferrel
  13. Jeffrey Simmons
  14. Byron Murphy
  15. Deandre Baker
  16. Rock Ya Sin
  17. Greedy Williams
  18. Dexter Lawrence
  19. Marquise Brown
  20. Josh Jacobs
  21. Noah Fant
  22. Irv Smith
  23. LJ Collier
  24. Taylor Rapp
  25. Jerry Tillery
  26. N’Keal Harry
  27. Nassir Adderley

As you glance over the list, you’ll notice a few things that are radically different than most “big boards” you’ll probably see elsewhere — and that’s intentional. Again, I’m writing this from the perspective of the Raiders, which means no matter what there are some guys that they simply cannot consider drafting with one of their first three picks.

The most obvious omission? The quarterbacks. I’m a Derek Carr guy, and even if I weren’t, I’d still advocate for focusing elsewhere this year and giving Carr a chance to prove himself with actual weapons and protection. At the end of the day, drafting a quarterback would be a massive disappointment for me.

The second position group I excluded was offensive line. The Raiders drafted a tackle in the first round last season and just made another tackle the most expensive tackle in the NFL. Simply put? You cannot draft a tackle this high — and if we’re talking about guards or a center, it’s a hard-pass in the first round for me.

You’ll also probably notice that just six offensive players made my board — and, again, that’s intentional. The Raiders spent big on their receiving corps this off-season, making that position group a low-priority. If I had to choose between a receiver or defensive back with similar grades? I’m taking the defensive back every time.

The exception, of course, comes in the form of tight ends, a running back and a pair of high-end receivers that might make me change my mind. At tight end, the Raiders could definitely use some help — and so if pick No. 24 or 27 could land them Noah Fant (Iowa) or Irv Smith (Alamaba), I’d be fine with it. The NFL is a scoring league and so another weapon wouldn’t be out of the question. The same type of thinking applies to Josh Jacobs — although the running back group is so deep, I’d prefer defense, defense, defense early on.

Really, that last thought is the summary of my approach: defense, defense, defense. With head coach Jon Gruden there’s approximately a 0% chance that the Raiders pick three defensive players in the first round — but with the talent in this draft, it’s really what would make the most sense. If the Raiders could leave Nashville with a pair of defensive linemen and a defensive back, it would be an unequivocal home run — and it’s the quickest way to make 2019 the start of the next great era of Raider football.

Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a small newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Raiders and Dodgers since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNewswire.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Raider This one is an easy one for me: Charles Woodson. When the Raiders drafted him, there was nothing to dislike about the guy — he was exciting and he was freaking good. Unfortunately, of course, he left after eight seasons — but when he returned in 2013 it was one of the better Raider moments of my lifetime. At that point, I didn't care how washed he was (and he wasn't!) — I just liked having him back in the silver and black. Obviously Tim Brown is another guy that was easy to love, but Woodson is the all-timer for me. As far as current, I'm still a believer in Derek Carr and think he's going to figure this all out. Favorite Raider Moment I think I'll go with the two weeks leading up to the 2001 Super Bowl. As a kid, I remember getting the newspaper every morning to read what they were talking about, clipping out the articles to keep for later. It was obviously far more exciting than the Super Bowl itself, but I'll never forget those moments of hope leading up to the Super Bowl. I referenced it above, but second to that was probably the return of Charles Woodson in 2013 — I just loved the guy, and never dreamed he'd actually come back.
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