The Las Vegas Raiders have a lot to think about as in less than two weeks, the NFL draft will commence, and they have to make plenty of decisions across nine picks. They have one in each round, with the majority of them being in the sixth round with three total picks.
The Raiders had two picks in the seventh round last year and neither of them got a single minute of playing time. Another thing they both had in common was that they both were defensive backs with M.J. Devonshire being a cornerback and Trey Taylor being a strong safety.
Chris Trapasso, sports writer for CBS Sports, released a seven-round mock draft and for the past few days I've been covering each round and talking about the predicted players that are supposed to go to the Raiders.
For the final pick in the upcoming NFL draft, Trapasso believes the Raiders will continue to target defensive backs in the seventh round by drafting Dan Jackson from the University of Georgia. In 2024, Jackson had 64 total tackles and defended against three passes, with two interceptions and a forced fumble.
Trapasso had the Raiders take more picks on offense than defense, but Jackson would hypothetically join a rookie class with Jihaad Campbell and Kevin Winston Jr, which would be a good haul for the Raiders defensively.
Their continued attempts to draft a cornerstone defensive back go to show that they've yet to bolster that side of the defense, and while I don't think Jackson could be that for them, he's a player that's worth taking a shot on.
One of his biggest highlights in college was blocking a field goal, which means he has the upside to play on special teams, and playing all four years with the Georgia Bulldogs means he's used to a higher level of competition as opposed to other seventh-round picks.
Something interesting to note about Trapasso's mock draft is he doesn't have the Raiders drafting a quarterback at all. This is a bold prediction and could mean that he believes the Raiders are okay with having Aidan O'Connell as their backup or that he puts a lot of faith in Geno Smith and how he'll continue to age.
