Raiders GM Mike Mayock: 'I liked Damon Arnette as much as Jeffrey Okudah'

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It wasn’t all that surprising when the Raiders selected Henry Ruggs III over CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy at No. 12 as Las Vegas was searching for more speed at the receiver position. Did the pick raise eyebrows? Sure. But it wasn’t surprising. The same can’t be said for the selection of Damon Arnette at No. 19.

For most of the draft cycle, it seemed like a lock that the Raiders would pick a cornerback with their second first-round pick. There were certainly some that believed the Raiders would take another Clemson cornerback in A.J. Terrell at that spot, but he went off the board at No. 16 to the Falcons.

But instead of trading back, the Raiders stood tall and selected the Ohio State cornerback and that sent shockwaves through the NFL Draft community. The pick was viewed as a massive reach by the Raiders as Arnette finished at No. 63 in a consensus board of all of the top draftniks.

As we hear more about the pick, it’s not surprising the Raiders went in this direction. In an interview with SiriusXM, general manager Mike Mayock explained that he liked Damon Arnette just as much as Jeffrey Okudah, who was the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

“I liked Arnette as much as (Jeff) Okudah. If you look at the production, Arnette’s got more production. He played last year hurt with a broken right wrist. I think he is the best tackler in this draft. I think he is an old-school bump-and-run Raiders cornerback that’s physical and nasty.”

While it’s true that Arnette had more production in 2019, it was more of a product of teams ignoring Okudah and deciding to throw the ball elsewhere. It also doesn’t hurt that Okudah was often lining up against opponent’s top receivers while Arnette covered the No. 2’s.

What is clear is that the Raiders believe that Arnette is going to be a star in the NFL and is a perfect fit for their system. It will be fascinating to see if their evaluation proves to be correct.