Raiders In Prime Position For No. 1 Pick In 2019 NFL Draft

Jeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel
4 Min Read
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

If you thought that Monday Night’s matchup between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers was going to be a dud, you were wrong. And if you were an Oakland Raiders fan? You were doubly wrong.

When Sterling Shepherd caught a touchdown pass from Eli Manning with just 53 seconds remaining on the clock — giving the Giants a four-point lead — not only did it cap off an exciting game between terribly football teams, but it also put the Raiders into prime position for the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Coming into the game, the 49ers were 2-7, while the Giants were 1-7 (tentatively tied with the Raiders for the worst record in the league).

Come Tuesday morning, however, only one team remained at the bottom of the standings: your 2019 Raiders. Obviously, the season is far from over, but here is where the No. 1 pick rankings currently stand heading into Week 10:

Oakland Raiders: 1-8

San Francisco 49ers: 2-8

New York Giants: 2-7

Arizona Cardinals: 2-7

Beyond those four, there’s a group of seven teams with just three wins this season — and, well, I didn’t include them here because you’re more optimistic than me if you think the Raiders are sniffing two more wins.

But what about their remaining schedule? This Sunday, they play the 2-7 Cardinals (we’ll get to this game in a second), but beyond that, the news is good for those of you rooting for the top pick:

@ Baltimore Ravens (4-5)

vs. Kansas City Chiefs (9-1)

vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2-1)

@ Cincinnati Bengals (5-4)

vs. Denver Broncos (3-6)

@ Kansas City Chiefs (9-1)

Right off the bat, you can chalk five of those up as losses (home games against Kansas City and Pittsburgh, road games against Kansas City, Cincinnati and Baltimore). Of the seven remaining games, only the Cardinals game and the Broncos game seem even remotely winnable, which brings me to Sunday…

It’s hard to over-emphasize the significance of the game on Sunday. If the Raiders lose, it solidifies their stranglehold on the most important pick in next year’s draft. Of all the two-win teams, the Cardinals are by far the worst (San Francisco and New York could easily add another win before the season ends because they actually seem like they care and they have favorable matchups still to come) — not to mention their schedule is pretty brutal down the stretch.

By the time Sunday comes and goes, it seems as if we’ll have a pretty clear picture as to who will be in control of the 2019 NFL Draft — and as we saw with last year’s coin flip, the difference between two picks could be everything.

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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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