The Las Vegas Raiders decided not to use a pick on Day 2 or trade back into the first round to select a wide receiver. It wasn’t until the sixth round that the Silver and Black decided to take a wideout, selecting former Oregon Ducks receiver Malik Benson.
Nonetheless, one NFL analyst is puzzled that the Raiders didn’t draft one of Fernando Mendoza’s top wideout targets during their time with the Indiana Hoosiers: Omar Cooper Jr. or Elijah Sarratt.
Cooper went late in the first round to the New York Jets, which would have meant the Raiders needing to make a trade, and Sarratt went in the fourth round to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Athletic’s Robert Mays and Dave Helman expressed concerns about the Las Vegas wideout group, with Helman noting his desire to see either Cooper or Sarratt in Silver and Black alongside Mendoza.
“It was probably too tidy of us to think the Raiders would get their hands on an Indiana receiver, but they had chances,” Helman said on the April 30 edition of “The Athletic Football Show.” “The Sarratt thing just made too much sense. That’s not saying they made a mistake, because who knows, but it would have been fun. It also fit a need and addressed something they were going to have to do at some point.”
Raiders Confident In Wide Receiver Group
Although there might be concerns over the Raiders’ wide receiver options, general manager John Spytek is high on their current group. Over the offseason, Las Vegas signed Jalen Nailor to go along with Tre Tucker.
Moreover, the Silver and Black are hoping Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton Jr. take a major step in their development in Season 2.
“I like our receiver room,“ Spytek said on the April 29 edition of “Up & Adams.” “I think probably people are going to roll their eyes. Everybody loves receivers. This is a question I get from my kids, ‘Dad, like can we have 15 receivers on the roster? ‘
“We live in the fantasy football world — receiver, receiver, receiver. I value receivers, I do. I really do. But I love Tre Tucker, and he’s a good player. And we’re excited about Jalen Nailor, and we drafted Jack Bech in the second last year. We have belief in Jack.
“We drafted Dont’e Thornton in the fourth last year; we believe in him. I’m excited with Malik Benson. We’re not going to force anything. We have a very thorough evaluation of every player at every position and it never goes the way you want it to go.”
Jermod McCoy Will Give Las Vegas More Upside
Furthermore, while Sarratt would’ve made sense in the fourth round, the Raiders decided to roll the dice on former Tennessee Volunteers cornerback Jermod McCoy, who many see as a first-round talent, but comes with injury concerns.
On the April 29 edition of “Up & Adams,“ Spytek noted that the team was comfortable making this pick in the fourth round due to its confidence in the training and medical staff. Moreover, it was a thought process that the team had since the Scouting Combine.
“This was a very well-vetted, thoughtful process that we had talked about at length for weeks and even months before,“ Spytek said. “We were obviously, since the Combine, aware of the medical data and reports on every player.
“With where we’re at in the organization and the belief that we have in our process downstairs to care for our players and give them the best, get them on the football field, keep them healthy, and make sure that the longevity of their careers is important, too, because that’s important to the organization and the players.
“They should feel cared for and taken care of. We were comfortable at that point bringing Jermod McCoy in.”
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