2021 NFL Team Draft Page

We had been pretty consistent in our mock of the past month that the Raiders would go OT-S, or S-OT in the first two rounds and well that's exactly what happened. Alex Leatherwood wasn't a personal favorite of mine, but the Raider's war room liked him, so he's the pick. Time will tell if Leatherwood performed to the level of Darrisaw or Teven Jenkins, who were also available. The former 5-star OT who played a lot of football for the dominant Tide, brings versatily (could play RT or OG) and a pedigree indicative of a probable Day-One starter. Hoping that Leatherwood doesn't become another in a string of Round 1 talent reaches for the Raiders.

Grade: B

I'm not sure this could have played out much better. In the mid-second round, the Raiders move up to grab a prospect that would have been solid value at #17, landing our Big Board's #21-overall player and consensus top safety Trevon Moehrig. This guy is elite, and projects a Pro-Bowl-caliber centerfielder to pair with Jonathan Abram. There's so much to love about this pick - which fills a desperate need - and I'm excited to see the team move up to grab a player who instantly makes the secondary one of the more compelling young units in the NFL. While I (and everybody, pretty much) was critical of the Alex Leatherwood, if you had told me pre-draft that the Raiders managed to bring in Leatherwood and Moehrig, I would have assumed the order was flipped but would have felt the draft was off to a great start. Two starters. Two needs filled. Solid right tackle. Elite starting safety.

Grade: A+

The Raiders seek to address the pass rush by selecting a prospect out of Buffalo. Sound familiar? Koonce is certainly less-heralded that Khalil Mack (#225 on our Big Board), but he has 14 sacks in 19 games and joins Yannick Ngakoue as the guys the Raiders will really want to pin their ears back and go get a QB. While it's not hard to argue for a pass rusher here, Ronnie Perkins and, well, several other prospects seem to be better value here. A big reach for the MAC product. He's good at forcing fumbles, though.

Grade: C-

After investing heavily in Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski in the 2020 free agency, the Raiders' linebacker play remained unimpressive. Both are back as is Nicholas Morrow, on a one year deal. With Tanner Muse clearly a big reach from last draft class unlikely to pan out, there's been a lot of speculation about the Raiders drafting some help. While Deablo played safety at Virginia Tech, Alec Ingold identified him as a linebacker. As a rookie, expect him to be the #4 backer and a special teamer while the team figures out if he can play a bigger role in the future. This is another reach - especially with Jabril Cox available. This isn't the pick I would have made, but there's more "boom" than I see with Koonce.

Grade: B-