Who Would the Raiders Take in a 2016 Redraft?

The Las Vegas Raiders' 2016 draft was middling to say the least. None of the players they got in this draft class are still with the team, and some of them are even out of the league at this point. Would they have changed their selection if they knew who these players would turn out to be?

The answer is a resounding yes, as in real life, they held the 14th overall pick and selected Karl Joseph in an attempt to secure their secondary. Joseph was only on the team for the duration of his rookie contract and would be out of the NFL in two seasons afterwards.

It's not entirely Joseph's fault that he didn't work out with the Raiders. Injuries bogged down his career, and it wasn't as if he didn't have potential. It looked like early on, he could be the answer for them at strong safety after a promising rookie season.

Pro Football Focus released their 2016 redraft, and it's safe to say that Joseph wasn't the first safety taken off the board like he was in real life. Instead, PFF believes the Raiders would look to Justin Simmons in order to shore up their secondary in their 2016 redraft.

"By his second NFL season, Simmons worked his way into Denver’s starting lineup and became one of the best safeties in the NFL. From 2016 to 2023, he ranked 12th among qualified safeties with a 90.0 PFF overall grade. He was one of just six players from that group to earn at least a 90.0 PFF grade in coverage and run defense".

Simmons was a player they could've gotten in this year's offseason, and has yet to find a team to call home for the 2025 season. However, that's not to discredit the player he was earlier in his career, a staple of the Denver Broncos defense for a long time, and was one of the best safeties in the NFL.

Simmons stayed with the Broncos for a long time, so there's a possibility that Simmons may have still been on the Raiders heading into next season if they took him in the first round. Regardless, he would've been a massive help to their secondary, and I believe, would've resulted in more playoff appearances for the Raiders.