Why did Raiders go to Trevor Lawrence’s Pro Day?

NFL Media had an interesting nugget on Friday morning when it reported that there were 17 teams who attended the pro day for Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence — and the Las Vegas Raiders were one of them.

Since the news broke, I’ve been asked a lot by fans why I think the Raiders (who have had a recent pipeline of Clemson players come to the franchise) were at Lawrence’s workout? After all, he is fully expected to be the No. 1 pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in April, which is considered a slam-dunk.

My answer, though, is simple: Why not?

Sure, the 16 NFL franchises that aren’t the Jaguars probably don’t have a chance of landing Lawrence, but what does it hurt to check him out?

Due diligence is a big deal in the NFL and what else was that Raiders’ employee who attended going to do on a quiet Friday in February?

The Raiders have famously closely scouted top quarterbacks in the past couple of drafts, including Kyler Murray (who went No. 1 in 2019) and Jordan Love (who the Raiders bypassed twice.)

I don’t think the fact that the Silver and Black were represented at the Lawrence workout means the Raiders might consider making a huge offer to the Jaguars. No, it’s just about studying all players and perhaps information from this workout will help the Raiders when preparing to face Lawrence down the road. All teams have files on many players on other teams.

So, while the Raiders presence probably means nothing in the short term, it wasn’t a waste of their time.