Oakland Raiders: Who could the surprise 4th overall pick be?
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Oakland Raiders could be making a surprise pick at number four overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
What are Jon Gruden, Mike Mayock, and the Oakland Raiders scheming for the 2019 NFL Draft?
Someday, a movie should be made about the crazy things happening over the course of the last year with Oakland, but a 30-for-30 on this year’s draft process would probably be fascinating enough.
Not only do the Oakland Raiders have three first-round picks, they have a new general manager who worked in TV, a head coach who operates with a ‘my way or the highway’ type of mentality (and also worked in TV), and a bunch of interesting personalities throughout their roster.
The Raiders have said they like Derek Carr as a franchise QB, but they also did not close the door on drafting one. They traded their best player in the last 20 years, or maybe even more than that.
They sent their scouting staff home the weekend before the NFL Draft and like Smeagol tells his alternate personality in Lord of the Rings, they told that scouting staff to, “Leave now and never come back!”
In all seriousness, the Raiders had to expect some kind of fallout as they made their NFL Draft room airtight with just a couple of days until they make their selections.
According to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, they could have something surprising up their sleeves.
From Up to the Minute Live: The #Raiders pick at No. 4 could be a big surprise, based on the views of some who won't be there to witness it. pic.twitter.com/YOqY20oBy4
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 22, 2019
This is fascinating, and it got me thinking outside the box.
Mike Mayock’s player rankings at NFL Network were never super crazy, but he always had some guys ranked way higher than many thought by the time he finalized his board.
For example, in 2018 he ranked Baker Mayfield the fourth-best quarterback in the class behind Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Josh Rosen in that order.
Yikes.
Other than that, his rankings on last year’s draft prospects — for the most part — accurately reflected how well these guys played and how well they project going forward.
Given the fact that everyone has a different opinions about the quarterbacks every year, I wonder if this surprise isn’t trending in that direction.
Let’s take a look at some of the out-of-the-box options for the Raiders with that fourth-overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.