Potential first round duos picked randomly

Welcome to draft week. Apparently nothing can stop the NFL draft.

That doesn’t mean nothing can stop Mike Mayock from turning two first round picks into one, or winding up at different spots than 12 and 19, but let’s assume for the moment that just as in 2019, the Raiders end up using all the first rounders they had going into the day. What two players will Mayock pick?

We can’t know that for a number of reasons, the most important of which being that Mayock doesn’t know which two players he will pick. He’d first need to know which players were available. He’d need to know what trade offers he could receive or make based on how the virtual events play out. And nobody has any idea how the events will play out.

That’s why a good mock draft will get maybe 6-7 picks correct and most of those will be in the top 10, if not top 5. That’s batting less than .250. You’d be better off just making your mock picks randomly.

So I did.

I put 20 names into a random choices generator and started making the Raiders picks for them. I tried my best to choose about 15 or so names that are expected to go in the 12-19 range, but I also expanded my choices — both higher and lower than that range — in order to account for what can never be accounted for by definition: surprises. And we know that there are going to be surprises. I didn’t include any offensive linemen because that’s so far outside of what Las Vegas is expected to do, and I didn’t include any running backs, tight ends, but just about everything else is in there.

Which combination do you think turned out best? Some will be completely upsetting and others will seem like dreams. Kind of like the draft.

Random Duo #1:

Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma

Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU

One of only two random pairs here that ended up being two defensive players. If I had to bet on Mayock going offense-offense, offense-defense, or defense-defense, I would expect offense-defense, with the offense being a receiver. I would say it is more likely that he goes defense-defense than he goes offense-offense.

Random Duo #2:

Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon

Zack Baun, OLB, Wisconsin

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Random Duo #3:

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma

Justin Madubuike, DT, Texas A&M

Madubuike qualifies as one of my “reach” picks here, but Lamb probably makes people worry less about that.

Random Duo #4:

Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon

Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama

This would certainly draw some opinion pieces. The Raiders aren’t going to draft two first round quarterbacks, but could a team doing something like this only be a matter of time?

Random Duo #5:

K’Lavon Chaisson, DE, LSU

Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama

Nothing would surprise me about Tua falling out of the top 10, if not top 15. (I did not assume that these picks are “in order” at 12, 19 as you see them listed because few things could be of less consequence in this exercise than the order at which these players were make-believe picked.)

Random Duo #6:

Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU

Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor

Probably an upsetting day for Raiders fans if this happened.

Random Duo #7:

Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn

Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama

Players like Brown, Jeudy, and Tagovailoa seem to be getting mocked later as the draft draws nearer. But it really seems that nobody knows how this board is actually going to fall.

Random Duo #8:

Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor

Terrell Lewis, Edge, Alabama

Mims might be a great player but anything without one of the “top three” receivers is probably going to irk some people.

Random Duo #9:

K’Lavon Chaisson, DE, LSU

Henry Ruggs, WR, Alabama

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Random Duo #10:

A.J. Terrell, CB, Clemson

Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama

C.J. Henderson just couldn’t find himself picked during this exercise.

The Full List:

jerry jeudy, ceedee lamb, henry ruggs, kenneth murray, cj henderson, javon kinlaw, patrick queen, justin jefferson, justin herbert, k’lavon chaisson, aj terrell, terrell lewis, denzel mims, yetur gross-matos, kristian fulton, tua tagovailoa, derrick brown, zack baun, justin madubuiki, xavier mckinney