ESPN decided to just cut the sh*t and have their draft gurus Todd McShay and Mel Kiper put out a dueling 2-round mock draft.
What that means, is they simply had each do a 2-round mock draft and put them together to compare them.
With the 24th pick, Kiper and McShay have different ideas about who they see the Raiders taking. Kiper goes with Washington cornerback Kevin King while McShay has them taking Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis.
Said Kiper on Kevin King:
In a great class of cornerbacks, King stands out for his size (6-3, 200), and the 4.43 40 at the combine moved him up my board (No. 4 corner). After taking safety Karl Joseph on Day 1 last year, the Raiders are still trying to improve their secondary. Corner is a gaping hole headed into the draft.
Linebackers Haason Reddick, Reuben Foster, and Jarrad Davis are all off the board in Kiper’s mock, but Zach Cunningham is there. In fact, he surprisingly doesn’t have Cunningham going in the first two rounds. King is the third cornerback taken in Kiper’s mock behind Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley.
Said McShay Jarrad Davis:
Linebacker is another gaping hole in Oakland. The Raiders need better athletes in the second level. Davis is a Kwon Alexander-type, an explosive linebacker with sideline-to-sideline range in the run game and a relentless motor.
Reddick and Foster are also gone in McShay’s mock and Cunningham is still there. So, he has them taking Davis over Cunningham. McShay has him going at pick 44 in the second round. Kevin King goes two picks later to the Seahawks.
In the second round, their thinking lines up as they both have the Raiders taking Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara. Apparently they both put these together before Marshawn Lynch walked into Raiders headquarters Wednesday.
Said Kiper:
Kamara split time in the Tennessee backfield and had only 210 carries over the past two seasons. The Raiders let Latavius Murray go, and they don't have a lead back. Expect Oakland to seek out one in the draft, unless the Raiders change their mind on Adrian Peterson.
Yeah, they probably aren’t changing their mind on Peterson.
Said McShay:
An every-down back is one of the only things the Raiders are missing on offense. Kamara, my No. 28 overall player, could fall a bit if teams are spooked by his injury/suspension history. His jumps at the combine showed off rare lower-body explosiveness: Kamara posted the best vertical (39½ inches) and broad jump (10 feet, 11 inches) among all the running backs.
One would assume the fact that Tennessee is Reggie McKenzie’s alma mater is somehow factoring into their shared pick here.
In both instances, they have Kamara as the sixth running back off the board behind Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, and Samaje Perine. McShay sneaks D’Onta Foreman in as the final pick. Seven running backs in the first two rounds seems crazy. And if Lynch joined the Raiders, this prediction would undoubtedly change.
Loading comments...