Grading the Raiders 2019 draft class after two seasons
They say the biggest jump in an NFL career comes between their first and second year. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Sometimes, players burst out the gates right away, others never break out. Let’s take a look at how the Raiders 2019 drafted players performed in their second years.
Round 1, pick No. 4: Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson
Unlike his rookie season, Ferrell at least had as many positive performances as he had negative ones. It was still a mixed bag though. He was inconsistent at best. And still didn’t come close to living up to his draft position, finishing with just two sacks. And before you say sacks aren’t everything, they’re not nothing either. They matter, and getting just two is not good enough.
Grade: C
Round 1, pick No. 24: Josh Jacobs, RB, Alabama
Jacobs was nearly as good his second season as he was his rookie year. He had fewer yards in 15 games (1065) than he had in 13 games (1150) as a rookie and it showed in his yards per carry which dropped nearly a full yard. He did, however score 12 touchdowns, after scoring seven as a rookie.
Grade: B
Round 1, pick No. 27: Johnathan Abram, S, Mississippi State
This was Abram’s first season in the NFL after being lost for the season in the opener in 2019. And it was a rough one to say the least. He was often the weakest link in the Raiders’ secondary. Discipline was his overarching problem. Time after time he would get caught freelancing or making illegal hits. One lost season and one terrible one is not a great start to his career.
Grade: F
Round 2, pick No. 40: Trayvon Mullen, CB, Clemson
There were times when Mullen would get burnt, but he was still the best cornerback on this team. He’s had double digit pass breakups in each of his first two seasons, despite not becoming a starter until midway through his rookie year. And he improved his interception numbers, giving him three total over his first two seasons.
Grade: A-
Round 4, pick No. 106: Maxx Crosby, ED, Eastern Michigan
It’s hard to improve on double digit sacks as a rookie. Crosby’s sack numbers came down, but his seven sacks still led the team by a wide margin. His 13 QB hits and 14 tackles for loss were near his 2019 numbers as well.
Grade: A+
Round 4, pick No. 129: Isaiah Johnson, CB, Houston
After a lost rookie season, he was still buried on the depth chart his second season. He is solely responsible for one of the Raiders’ wins, however, coming in as an injury replacement and knocking down consecutive Justin Herbert fade passes in the end zone to preserve the Raiders’ win over the Chargers. The team is still trying to find a way to get him on the field more because as of now, his skillset appears limited.
Grade: C
Round 4, pick No. 136: Foster Moreau, TE, LSU
Seen as a blocking tight end coming out of LSU, he showed surprisingly good receiving skills as a rookie. Then the Raiders wasted a bunch of money signing Jason Witten and put him ahead of Moreau. Despite seeing his snaps drop, Moreau still outperformed Witten. Now that Witten has bestowed the secrets of his greatness on Moreau, maybe he can get back to being the other receiving threat across from Darren Waller.
Grade: B+
Round 5, pick No. 149: Hunter Renfrow, WR, Clemson
Third and Renfrow began as fifth and Renfrow. You don’t often find starting slot receivers and go-to third down targets in the fifth round. He was a gem as a rookie and improve on his receiving numbers this past season even with better receiving targets around him.
Grade: A+
Round 7, pick No. 230: Quinton Bell, ED, Prairie View A&M
Was nothing more than Mike Mayock flexing his knowledge of lesser known draft prospects. He didn’t make the team out of camp. Granted it’s not uncommon for a seventh round pick to not make the roster, but Bell always seemed like a throwaway pick.
Grade: D
Class assessment
It’s sort of ironic that this class is one of the best looking Raiders drafts in recent memory even despite seeming to botch their pick at fourth overall and two of their three first round picks.
I know there are some who would prefer to look at the positive things Clelin Ferrell has done, but being taken at fourth overall, more is expected. Especially when you look at what several defenders taken after him have done. Linebacker Devin White (5), edge rushers Josh Allen (7) and Brian Burns (16), and defensive tackle Ed Oliver (9) in particular.
Then, of course, there’s Johnathan Abram, when the team had a need at wide receiver and they passed on Pro Bowl WR AJ Brown several times.
This isn’t hindsight either. Those players would have been considered great picks at those spots at the time. Imagine this class with one of those other defenders at the top pick and AJ Brown along with the likes of Mullen, Crosby, Moreau, and Renfrow. What an absolutely incredible class this would be. It says a lot that it’s still a pretty good class as it stands.
Overal grade: B
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