The Way Too Early Grade The Draft Thread

[Attyla]

D+ we did not get our number one WR LOL

Actually, I like this draft, Spytek moved around a lot and got us some nice pieces. We did not get everything but it feels like Raiderland Christmas.


So let's see those overreaction grades. I know, I know, you cannot grade a draft for 3 years. Boo f[raiders_icon]cking Hoo. Lighten up Francis and grade this glorious weekend.

Mendoza by himself does not get us an A but the rest of the group certainly has to impress when put together. McCoy if he heals up makes the robber barons of the draft.

And there will be UDFAs and post draft pickups and drops. Tyree is going, well eventually, I mean the door s 40 yards away so it will take some time.

Grade A- but if McCoy pans out the grade could change.

[Attyla]

https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/onsi/las ... ifications

So tell me again that we did not kill this draft?

[CWood24]

Or maybe both turn out to be blue chip players. Both players were scheme fits. Just because they were selected lower than they were graded doesn’t mean there was something going on that the public wasn’t aware of. Plus we traded out of our pick and lost out on McDonald. Rebuilds are normally started with the offensive and defensive lines. Hopefully im wrong and the 2 Olineman and the NT we drafted last year are the answer.

Pregnon was never a fit he has below average lateral mobility & that is a must in Kubiak’s scheme & as for Dunker he was

Zuhn is the perfect embodiment of what Kubiak & Dennison look for in OL even looking at Rogers & Grant from last year they also fit the profile

We didn't lose out on MacDonald we chose not to take him there is a huge difference, by all accounts we got the guy we wanted in Stukes & swapped a 4th for a 3rd

It’s the same every year people complain about us not taking a guy that some random website told them should have went higher

[heavyD]

The Athletic ranked the Raiders as the 3rd best draft class. Seems like there’s pretty universal praise for their work. Hopefully it translates to the field.

[KillerRaider30]

Im very high on this pick.

6'7 is not to tall for a gaurd when your QB is 6'5. Kuhn is in the 97 percentile when it comes to pass blocking.
Easier in a phone booth?
The Raiders may up his weight for pure power DTs.

I have all the confidence he can block the zone as at LG as easily as he did at LT.
He hase elite athleticism.

Maybe im too old school so in my mind 1 of the 2 gaurds should be a power first zone second player but under Kubiak in Seattle, zone runs were the dominant scheme, accounting for roughly 78% of all rushing attempts compared to only 22% for power/gap runs.
Still id like one incognito type for that 4th and goal from the 1 playing next to Linderbaum.

[KillerRaider30]

Not addressing a DT is really what sticks out to me but maybe they’ll look at a vet a bit later or they like what we have on roster, but I find that a reach. I know it’s water under the bridge but can you imagine if Wilkins had worked out for us? He fits the description of what we need imo. Our defensive front would have been really good, but that was a long ago yesterday.

Honestly after the Chiefs selected Peter Woods I didn't see one DT worth picking over the gigantic defensive backfield void we had.

I wanted gaurd myself but I get it now.

Maybe with the QBs coming out next year itll push them down the board and we can pick a 1st round DT.

[Raiders Baby]

It's hard not to give this draft anything besides an A when we got Mendoza. That pick alone has the potential to transform our future.

As I said in the Day 2 thread, I found some of the picks surprising, and I stand by that reaction, but I rescind my 'headscratchers' critique.

When KMac & Boston were there at 36, I was sure we would end up with one of them. But Stukes was one of those guys that was mentioned here on this board a lot in the pre-draft process, so I had a chance to learn about his game, and I agree we found a Day 1 starter at FS, which was badly needed.

I was also surprised with Keyron because again I thought there were chances to address more immediate needs, but thinking about the whole picture it makes sense because Koonce is on a one year deal and will want to be paid if he is productive. I assumed we would go Pregnon there, but I am equally happy with the Zuhn pick as I would've been with Pregnon.

I think we crushed Day 3.

The TLDR here is, it looks like we at least have a plan. It's hard to blindly trust as a Raider fan, been burned too many times, but it does seem that this group has a vision for how they want to build off of a 1st overall pick.

Never fun to hit rock bottom, but it does give a good foundation to build on, and I think Spy & Co did a good job of getting some of the missing pieces

[Viper]

Honestly after the Chiefs selected Peter Woods I didn't see one DT worth picking over the gigantic defensive backfield void we had.

I wanted gaurd myself but I get it now.

Maybe with the QBs coming out next year itll push them down the board and we can pick a 1st round DT.

I still think there’s a chance we pick one up sometime between now and start of season.

[Trainnvain]

Or maybe both turn out to be blue chip players. Both players were scheme fits. Just because they were selected lower than they were graded doesn’t mean there was something going on that the public wasn’t aware of. Plus we traded out of our pick and lost out on McDonald. Rebuilds are normally started with the offensive and defensive lines. Hopefully im wrong and the 2 Olineman and the NT we drafted last year are the answer.

I wouldn’t call it losing out on McDonald, they passed on him. If they wanted him they could have drafted him yet chose not to. It tells you a lot about what the priorities were and what they think of the players on the roster.

[RickRyb]

My optimistic look is The Raiders got the number one pick in the draft, not by having a really bad roster, but by having really really bad coaches. Now, having good coaches, with the number one pick The Raiders have a very good chance to become great again much quicker.

[ALLRAIDERWORLD21]

The difference between this year’s draft and past years is the level of analysis, research, and resources, but most importantly, everyone was aligned when it came to making the picks. Brandon Yeargan, one of the Head Scouts, even said they put together around 3,900 reports for 10 picks. That tells you everything about the process. They still have to prove it on the field, but this level of prep and alignment gives you a much better shot at hitting on players, especially late in the draft.

In the past, you hoped for 1–2 hits early and maybe one late. This feels different. Feels like a shift where we can start getting real contributors throughout the draft.. and that’s how you build a winner.

[mstrbass2000]

Im very high on this pick.

6'7 is not to tall for a gaurd when your QB is 6'5. Kuhn is in the 97 percentile when it comes to pass blocking.
Easier in a phone booth?
The Raiders may up his weight for pure power DTs.

I have all the confidence he can block the zone as at LG as easily as he did at LT.
He hase elite athleticism.

Maybe im too old school so in my mind 1 of the 2 gaurds should be a power first zone second player but under Kubiak in Seattle, zone runs were the dominant scheme, accounting for roughly 78% of all rushing attempts compared to only 22% for power/gap runs.
Still id like one incognito type for that 4th and goal from the 1 playing next to Linderbaum.

we grabbed a powerful big back with 4.3 speed and have 2 good blocking tight ends on the roster too

[mstrbass2000]

The difference between this year’s draft and past years is the level of analysis, research, and resources, but most importantly, everyone was aligned when it came to making the picks. Brandon Yeargan, one of the Head Scouts, even said they put together around 3,900 reports for 10 picks. That tells you everything about the process. They still have to prove it on the field, but this level of prep and alignment gives you a much better shot at hitting on players, especially late in the draft.

In the past, you hoped for 1–2 hits early and maybe one late. This feels different. Feels like a shift where we can start getting real contributors throughout the draft.. and that’s how you build a winner.

agree, kubiak put together a great team of talent evaluator's and coaches ...very detail oriented...love that we are still grabbing very talented players late in teh draft and even after the draft udfa's

[Skullboy]

I'm giving the Draft an A-

For me everything begins and ends with Fernando. He is the future of the team and for once we were smart enough not to do something mind-bogglingly stupid.

We also added quality players throughout the draft and after years of horrible picks weren't putting up regular head-scratchers.

My only real complaint is that with our new QB the undoubted future of the team we are hanging everything on, I would have loved to give him more help. He can't play ragdoll and he needs to be developing chemistry with people to throw to... an A draft would have had us emerge with a more dominant offensive line and a stronger receiver room. Fernando needs a chance to grow with a strong offense around him. We have a lot of the pieces we need - RB, TE, LT but this was a chance to finish adding to that core. Picking up a great OL player in Zuhn that can play a little bit of everything and a strong RB2 undoubtedly helped. But we put a ton of our picks in defense.

No doubt our defense needed the love (and our secondary deservingly got a lot of it). But the defense could have been more of the priority next year when we weren't just beginning to develop the future of the franchise in our QB.

Still a draft that we come out of with a lot of great players and the future of the franchise. Have to love being a Raiders fan right now.

[RI RAIDER]

B

They got good value for almost each pick. I understood the miss on a starting OT, as there was a run on them in Rd 1. Not getting a starting IDL, and passing on Pregnon and Dunker is why they don’t get an A grade. I love the McCoy pick, potential star, and if it doesn’t work out, it was only a 4th Rd pick.

I really wanted Pregnon. I think passing on him is going to haunt us. Kid is a beast and would have been a day 1 starter here. His versatility (schools, experinence, and different schemes) would have made him a great addition. Oh well.

[raider_kin]

I'm giving the Draft an A-

For me everything begins and ends with Fernando. He is the future of the team and for once we were smart enough not to do something mind-bogglingly stupid.

We also added quality players throughout the draft and after years of horrible picks weren't putting up regular head-scratchers.

My only real complaint is that with our new QB the undoubted future of the team we are hanging everything on, I would have loved to give him more help. He can't play ragdoll and he needs to be developing chemistry with people to throw to... an A draft would have had us emerge with a more dominant offensive line and a stronger receiver room. Fernando needs a chance to grow with a strong offense around him. We have a lot of the pieces we need - RB, TE, LT but this was a chance to finish adding to that core. Picking up a great OL player in Zuhn that can play a little bit of everything and a strong RB2 undoubtedly helped. But we put a ton of our picks in defense.

No doubt our defense needed the love (and our secondary deservingly got a lot of it). But the defense could have been more of the priority next year when we weren't just beginning to develop the future of the franchise in our QB.

Still a draft that we come out of with a lot of great players and the future of the franchise. Have to love being a Raiders fan right now.

I don't really disagree with anything you said, I really wanted O line early too, but; a really sh**ty defense, which is what we had, would put so much pressure on a young QB to score a lot, so there's a lot to be said for a strong D too.