Silver Minings: Raiders' new TE Michael Mayer was top 15 on their board

The Las Vegas Raiders entered day two feeling accomplished after landing star edge rusher Tyree Wilson. Having one of the best prospects in the draft fall to them was a blessing in a position of need.

On day two, the same situation happened with one of the best tight ends in the draft falling within their range. Tight end Michael Mayer fell to the Raiders at 35, with the Raiders trading up to take the pick.

Dave Ziegler didn’t believe he would slide that far and pounced at the opportunity. The Raiders thought he was a top-15 player in the draft.

“He was one of the top-15 players on our board just in totality,” Ziegler said, “Another kid with excellent traits, very smart. Probably in terms of our scale of traits, one of the highest guys on our board in that regard too, the way we kind of measure that. So, really excited to be able to get a young tight end with his skill set where we got him. We felt like that was very good value.”

Mayer has a chance to become a starter on day one. His skill set as a run blocker makes him pro-ready at the tight end position. He was a steal at 35, and it was wise for the front office to be aggressive.

In other Raiders links:

Tre Tucker profile on the Raiders website: See what Tucker adds to the Raiders Wrs corps.

The athletic’s NFL draft best available players: Tashan Reed goes over the best available players on day three.

Byron Young comes from an SEC powerhouse: The Raiders new DT brings pedigree from Alabama.