After the 2021 NFL Draft, the Raiders did not receive much praise for their picks. In fact, most of the national media gave them poor grades and openly criticized their picks throughout the draft.
But how does their draft class look a year later now that they have some experience under their belts?
In a recent article by Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus, he re-graded every team’s 2021 draft class a year later. For the Raiders, their grade improved from a C- initially to a B- now. However, he praised several of their picks after Round 1. Here is a snippet of his thoughts on the class:
“Trevon Moehrig was always a PFF favorite, and he hit the ground running as such with a 77.7 coverage grade as a rookie. The one we didn’t see coming, however, was Nate Hobbs, who was tremendous out of the slot en route to a 78.4 overall grade.
This class is still weighed down by first-rounder Alex Leatherwood, who finished as the second-lowest-graded starting guard in the NFL.”
Moehrig and Hobbs were both Day 1 starters for the Raiders and improved as the season went along. Both graded very highly for rookies and the expectation is that they will be even better in 2022.
The Raiders are also expecting third-round pick Divine Deablo to have a bigger role on defense as a hybrid linebacker/safety. He showed flashes at the end of the season and could even grab one of the starting linebacker jobs during training camp.
The only real question about this draft class is Leatherwood. What is his best position in the NFL and can he make a noticeable leap in Year 2? His play did improve at guard, but the Raiders were certainly hoping he could play right tackle at a high level.
Otherwise, this is a fantastic draft class for the Raiders that could produce as many as four starters. Even with Leatherwood being a big question mark, this is quite the haul for the Raiders.