2018 NFL Mock draft: Daniel Jeremiah sees strong combine performance putting Jaire Alexander to Raiders at 10

While many mock drafts seem to be falling in line, putting Roquan Smith in Oakland in the draft, NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah is going the opposite direction. The host of NFL Network’s Scouting Combine coverage had Roquan Smith going at 10 overall to the Raiders, but in his first post-combine mock, he has switched his pick to Louisville cornerback, Jaire Alexander.

Said Jeremiah of his selection:

Alexander is coming off a phenomenal combine performance and Oakland needs an upgrade in the secondary.

It’s true, Alexander did have a fantastic scouting combine which featured a sub-4.4 40 (4.38), the 3rd fastest 20-yard shuttle (3.98), 4th longest broad jump (10’7”), and 5th fastest 3-cone (6.71). That performance was so good, in fact, that he made our annual Al Davis Memorial All-Combine Freak Team.

Alexander made the team along with Denzel Ward, who tied for the fastest 40 (4.32) at this year’s combine. In Jeremiah’s mock, Ward went to Chicago with the 8th overall pick.

Up to the combine, Mike Mayock and others were saying that Denzel Ward was the sure top cornerback in this draft, but after that it was a toss up between Alexander and Central Florida’s Mike Hughes, Iowa’s Josh Jackson, and Colorado’s Isaiah Oliver. Those tough decisions are often made on how prospects perform at the combine.