With five players already selected on the first two days of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders entered Day 3 with three more selections — but ended with two new players after trading up in the fourth round.
Pick No. 109, John Simpson, G, Clemson
The jokes write themselves, right? Another Clemson Tiger — which, I’ll admit, at least makes predicting players for the Raiders a lot easier (I had Simpson as a player to watch after Day 2).
As soon as this pick was submitted, rumors started to swirl about the future of guard Gabe Jackson — whose $9.6 million cap hit (the fifth-highest on the team) could be removed with no penalty if the Raiders so chose. To be clear, it’s not because people are penciling in Simpson as a starter, but because he makes the fourth guard added by the Raiders this off-season (if you include re-signing Jordan Devey and Denzelle Good).
As for the pick itself, here’s what The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had to say after the pick:
I mocked OG John Simpson to the #Raiders in the 3rd because of how much Mayock/Gruden liked him – they're able to steal him in the 4th.
Love this fit.
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) April 25, 2020
Grade: B+
Value was good and the position was one they expected to address, but a lot of this depends on their plan with Jackson moving forward. Mike Mayock has since confirmed that the plan is for him to be the team’s starting right guard.
Pick No. 139, Amik Robertson, CB, Louisiana Tech
If there were complaints about value in a couple of the Raiders’ first handful of picks (notably Damon Arnette and Tanner Muse), Robertson is yet another pick going in the other direction for the Raiders. Despite being a shade under 5’9″, Robertson is everything the Raiders want in a corner:
Robertson is listed at 5-8, 187. On the smaller side (hence the likely Day 3 capital), but he can play. Pick your favorite clichè; mine is “he plays bigger”. Dog out there. pic.twitter.com/m47d2WGgi6
— ryan, a lynn bowden jr. fan (@StillRyanFive) April 25, 2020
Or, I mean, here he is against a dude almost a foot taller than him:
Here he is jamming the 6’6″ Collin Johnson.
My favorite clip 😂 pic.twitter.com/Qd5nMxJ91h— Chavez Ravine (@ChavezRavine7) April 25, 2020
According to The Athletic’s consensus board, Robertson was the 92nd ranked player in the draft, making this a great value — not to mention at a position that the Raiders remain in desperate need of help.
Grade: A-
Part of me wishes they would have picked up another outside corner — since many expect Robertson to land in the slot — but the talent and toughness here is hard to argue with.
Trade Recap: One day after trading the 91st pick to the New England Patriots (along with No. 159) in exchange for third, fourth and fifth round picks, the Raiders moved up on Saturday by sending picks No. 121 and 172 in exchange for No. 109.
If you add everything together, it looks like this:
No. 91, 121, 159
FOR
No. 100, 109 139
Grade: A
Hard to argue with the haul here — by moving back nine spots in the third round, the Raiders move up 12 and 20 spots with their two fourth round picks.
