Mike Mayock: Raiders Have Linebacker Issues

[790thSFS]

Raiders general manager Mike Mayock is in Mobile, Alabama this week for the Senior Bowl and he’s not being shy about one position the Raiders will be shopping for in the coming months.

“We’ve got to get better,” Mayock told the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore. “We’ve got linebacker issues. People know that.”

Fortunately for Mayock, the Raiders are armed with two first- round picks in this year’s draft, but he and Jon Gruden may have to arm wrestle over who has dibs on the first pick. Gruden is going to be like a kid in a candy shop with the wide receiver talent in the draft. It’s been projected that as many as seven receivers could wind up being drafted in the first round.

NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has two linebackers listed as top 16 prospects (Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons and LSU LB Patrick Queen) with Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray as his no. 35 overall prospect. All three are plus athletes and excel in coverage – where the Raiders struggled mightily at linebacker in 2019.

As for receivers, the 2020 draft projects right now to be one of the best classes ever. With names like CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, Justin Jefferson, Brandon Aiyuk, Laviska Shenault, and Tee Higgins, there might not be a way for the Raiders to screw up at wide receiver in the first round.

So if it’s going to be a linebacker and receiver for the Raiders in round one (it has to be, right?), which position should they draft first?

[DeadRinger]

I hope to God we stay away from that tweener Simmons. Dude doesn’t fit.

[piratepride]

Mayock may just be not trying to tip his hand, but he's been saying he's weary of WRs in the 1st round.
Unless Gruden gets involved, we may be going defense with the 1st 2 selections, especially with this deep WR class.
Maybe he goes DL, and LB?
I like Simmons, but he is too skinny IMO. I thought the same thing of Houston's LB from Vanderbilt a few years ago ( Zack Cunningham). You don't see him in the top 100 players yet, too thin.
The top DL Derrick Brown may be another Akeem Hicks type player up the middle. Our guys are talented, but we need way more depth. Would mayock pull the trigger instead of say Cedee Lamb?
I'm high on going WR at #12, but read Lamb likes to party. Last thing we need is a bad influence on the test of our young talent and in Vegas to boot! In Mayock we trust, whoever we get Ill teust Mayock did his homework.

[DeadRinger]

There are maybe 7 or 8 legit #1 WR prospects coming out, not counting the crazy late-round surprises nobody saw coming.

The potential stumbling block is this: The only legit FA WR who’s likely to hit the market is Robby Anderson. So teams that need wideouts know theyHAVE to get them in the draft, and there’s going to be a feeding frenzy.

But luckily we have a really smart GM who actually understands shit like that and doesn’t have to read MY fucking posts to figure it out! He will make the right moves accordingly. It’s fucking UNBELIEVABLE going into an off-season with Mayock instead of Reggie.

The sense of hope is so strange and awesome...

Ton of draft picks

73M in cap space

New stadium

New city

Time For the silver & black to fucking rock ‘n roll again.

[silver & black]

DR,... If we go offense: who is your first pick? If we go defense: same question.

[DeadRinger]

Man, I can't get away from Jerry Jeudy. I know people are wary of AL WRs after the Cooper debacle, but Jeudy checks off every box in my book. The kid can burn, he's a badass route runner and he's so fluid with the ball in his hands it's like trying to catch water. He'd be my pick if at all possible. If not him, Lamb. If not Lamb, then right now it's a tossup for me between Jefferson out of LSU and Smith out of AL. One of those kids will separate himself soon.

On D, we've GOT to shore up MLB. Now, if Mayock does that in FA with Schobert I'm good with that, that just means we've got to shore up OLB. So it's a LB come hell or high water IMO unless there's a no-brainer pass rusher just sitting there for us. It's really fuckin hard to pass up highly productive rushers, they're so fuckin valuable in today's game.

I think Simmons will be gone, and even though I hate tweeners i think he could be a solid OLB even thought he's in no way MLB material. Murray plays ILB and OLB. Another dude to watch is this kid Dylan Moses out of Alabama. Yeah, nobody talks about him because he didn't play in 2019 because of injury. But supposedly in 2018 he was the consensus best LB in the nation. So this would be one of those Jaylon Smith-type deals where you buy the kid knowing he's a badass even though he didn't play this year.

I'm still looking into these guys, there's another dude ranked highly out of Wisconsin, Appalachia State and some others. A lot to look at in the coming months.

Our BEST bet on D, and the first move Mike should make, is to sign Schobert. That's the real deal right there.

[DeadRinger]

I'm just now realizing (yeah, I'm a little slow sometimes) that we have no 2nd round pick.

This changes things dramatically. It means that, barring a trade, we MUST address WR in the 1st round. We have no choice if we want a semi-blue-chip player because I've seen mocks with up to 5 guys picked in rd 1 - guys like Jefferson are predicted to go in late rd 1, much less early rd 2.

So if we have to reach for guy then so be it. Or it's possible we can trade down and add some picks and still get "our" guy at WR, depending on who that is. For instance, maybe we can trade back to pick #25 or something, still pick Jefferson and maybe get ourselves a 2nd rounder out of the deal.

But here's the deal: I believe we HAVE to pick a WR in the first 35 picks, give or take 2 picks. There's no way around it, we MUST HAVE a legit #1 WR and that's the only way to get one. In rd 3 there won't be anyone left who's any better than Tyrell Williams.

[silver & black]

Don't we have a 2nd round pick from the Bears for the Mack trade?

[DeadRinger]

Right now - and again, I'm still looking at things - My WR board looks like this:

1. Jerry Jeudy - They're comparing this kid to Odell Beckham Jr. And I can see that in him. We should try to trade up for this cat, if we can swing a deal. He may be the best WR prospect I've seen come out since Calvin Johnson. He'll be better than Beckham, better than Julio, possibly better than Hopkins (although it's hard to be better than Hopkins in my book)... He could be the best in the league by 2022.

2. CeeDee Lamb - Comparison here is to DeAndre Hopkins, but I think that's an overshoot. Hopkins has elite skills in more areas than Lamb, but Lamb is a great playmaker.

3. Henry Ruggs - The burner of the class, a Tyreek Hill/Mecole Hardman type. Speed kills. But also has good hands and is a better route runner than either Hill or Hardman. Should run a sub-4.35 40. A nice high ceiling on this kid.

4. Justin Jefferson - Possibly a Jarvis Landry type player. A higher ceiling even than a Ruggs IMO. I really like this dude, I have a great feeling about him. All he did was everything - 1560 fuckin yds and 18 fuckin TDs against SEC defenses. If production is your thing - and who doesn't fucking like it? - this is your guy. Which makes me think this might be the dude Mayock has his eye on. A prolific kid with almost prototypical size coming out of the national champion program. JUST the kind of kid Mayock and Gruden would be flipping out over. I can see him moving up to #3 past Ruggs on this list eventually without too much effort.

Last year I made the right call about us picking Ferrell. Right now I'm leaning heavily towards Jefferson as one of our 1st rounders. Not my 1st choice but he'd be a great one for us I'm sure of it.

5. Davonta Smith - He's compared to Calvin Ridley, but he's more prolific than Ridley ever was or ever will be. Great athlete, excellent speed, likes to fight for it even though he doesn't have the bulk, a real gamer, solid player all around. Just open all the damn time, and has a SERIOUS nose for the end zone. Most people don't know he led AL in rec yds and TDs even with Ruggs and Jeudy on the team.

6. Tee Higgins - He's compared to Tyler Boyd, but I think he may end up being an almost exact clone of Courtland Sutton. Not necessarily a #1 in my book, but he'll be a strong WR in this league for a long time, and put up a few 1000-yd seasons and make a ton of money.

[DeadRinger]

As for other guys I've seen these comparisons:

Sage Surratt: Courtland Sutton

Michael Pittman Jr: Kenny Golladay

Brandon Aiyuk: Sammy Watkins

Laviska Shenault: Percy Harvin