To say the Raiders have struggled in the first round over the last decade would be quite an understatement. They’ve had a ton of first-round draft capital due to the trades of Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack, but don’t have a lot to show for it.
But just how bad have the Raiders been in Round 1 compared to the rest of the league? Well, at the very bottom
In a recent article by Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus, he listed all of the best and worst drafting teams in Round 1 since 2014. The Raiders were ranked as the worst-drafting team in the first round, which isn’t much of a surprise.
Here is a snippet of what Monson had to say about all of their first-round picks dating back to 2014:
The Raiders’ whiffs in the first round during the Jon Gruden/Mike Mayock era were legendary. They repeatedly committed the cardinal sin of reaching relative to the consensus board and ended up with very little in return almost every time.
During a two-year period of 2019-20, they had five first-round draft picks. The only one of those players still with the team is running back Josh Jacobs, who may only be there for his one year on the franchise tag before the team moves on to get younger and cheaper.
The good news is that the Raiders did have some hits in that stretch, including Kolton Miller and Josh Jacobs. Both players are expected to play big roles in the offense in 2023 and have seemingly gotten better each season.
But if the Raiders want to take the next step as a franchise, they have to get better at drafting in Round 1. We shall see how Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels do this year at pick No. 7 after trading away their first-round pick last year for Davante Adams.
