Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast offers a complete seven-round Silver and Black NFL Mock Draft as Raider Nation's big day approaches.
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00:00 Hi everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter, your Sports Illustrated Beat Writer covering the
00:06 Las Vegas Raiders and the host of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:11 I appreciate you all being with us today.
00:13 Very excited to have my friend Matt Holadek from thespun.com.
00:18 It is one of the greatest sports aggregate sites that you'll ever find anywhere on the
00:23 web.
00:24 It's just a terrific place to get information on every sport, kind of the top headlines
00:29 and the top fruit of the tree, and it's just a great place.
00:33 And as I promised you, today we're going to go over Matt's Raiders complete seven round
00:44 mock draft.
00:47 So Matt, let's start it out.
00:49 Round one, the Raiders have several different needs, could go in several different directions.
00:55 Tom Telesco has positioned himself very well in allowing the Raiders to pick.
01:01 You don't know what they're going to do.
01:03 There's several different angles.
01:04 So I ask you, based on your information covering the NFL macro league, which is big, and things
01:13 that you've heard, who do you have the Raiders taking in round one and why?
01:18 Like you said, they could go a couple of different ways.
01:22 I think that when you look at around different mock drafts out there, the big swing is them
01:27 taking a quarterback in round one.
01:29 And while I can't rule out that they would do that, I think the more likely scenario
01:35 is they fill the more immediate need and in a draft that's really loaded on the offensive
01:41 line, I think they go all line.
01:43 I have to take in Talis Fawaga from Oregon State, very much a plug and play guy at right
01:49 tackle.
01:50 He's remained a Luminor sign with the Giants free agency, so he's not there anymore.
01:54 Fawaga has just the ability to step right into that spot.
01:59 I think it's a very safe pick.
02:01 I think it's a very smart pick.
02:02 I think when you are building up your roster with a new regime, head coach, GM, the whole
02:10 thing, one of the first things you need to get settled, obviously, hopefully you have
02:15 quarterback, but quarterback and offensive line.
02:18 And I think this really helps settle a position of need on the offensive line.
02:22 So I got going with Talis Fawaga at 13.
02:25 That would be a great pick.
02:26 He's one of the most athletic offensive linemen, which is what they're looking for.
02:32 And man, he plays with just a sight.
02:35 He just plays like a Raider, doesn't he?
02:37 He does.
02:38 He's got that nastiness to him.
02:40 He can ball in a run game.
02:43 He fits in very, very well with the Raider ethos, especially under Antonio Pierce.
02:48 All right, let's go to the second round.
02:51 What do you have them doing in the second round?
02:53 Corner is a major need for the Raiders.
02:55 And the good thing for them and any other team that are looking for corners is that
03:00 this is a very good quarterback draft.
03:01 There's going to be a lot of guys off the board early, but there's a lot of depth into
03:06 the second and third rounds and beyond.
03:11 Where they pick in the second round, there's going to be a bunch of different options at
03:14 corner.
03:15 I went, and maybe you can laugh, it's a little bit of a homework pick, but I went with somebody
03:19 that I know well from seeing him play the last few years.
03:22 I have them taking Max Melton, cornerback out of Rutgers, who played three years.
03:28 I put a three-year letterman there.
03:30 He was a stud for them.
03:33 Really good pass defender.
03:34 He's a good pick.
03:36 In the run game, work in progress, but in terms of frame, in terms of competitiveness,
03:43 in terms of playing the pass, which is paramount in the NFL, he would be an excellent pick
03:51 there.
03:52 He comes from good bloodlines too.
03:53 His brother Bo is in the league already with the Packers as a receiver.
03:57 I know a lot of Raiders fans may say, "Well, Rutgers defense was legitimately good last
04:02 year.
04:03 That's why they made a bowl game."
04:04 This kid can play.
04:05 He's a good ball.
04:06 I agree with you.
04:07 No argument for me.
04:08 All right, let's go to round three.
04:09 This is where I have things getting interesting because, again, like I said, we could see
04:15 the Raiders take a quarterback in round one.
04:18 I'm not projecting it, but I do think they lead the draft with a quarterback.
04:24 With that being the case, this is where I have them taking one.
04:27 I got to go with Spencer Rattler, who two, three years ago, people were thinking would
04:33 be the number one pick in either the 2022 draft or the 2023 draft maybe.
04:40 He had that kind of reputation early on, coming out of high school and early on in his career
04:45 at Oklahoma before he got replaced by Caleb Williams.
04:48 Then he kind of had to reboot himself at South Carolina.
04:52 He's raw.
04:53 He's talented.
04:54 There's mixed opinions on him, but I think if you're taking a chance on a quarterback
04:59 outside of the first round, I would rather, this is my philosophy, I would rather take
05:05 a little bit bigger swing on somebody who has traits to be a stud, even if it misses,
05:10 as opposed to taking a safer quarterback in the middle rounds that you're kind of limited
05:17 on what they could become.
05:18 I think Spencer Rattler fits there.
05:20 I got to tell you, you are right.
05:22 There are some people that have concerns around the NFL, but absolutely killed it in the interviews,
05:31 killed it physically.
05:34 The best drafters in the league always tell me if you're going to swing, you swing in
05:39 the third round or lower.
05:40 That's where you want to take, I'd rather take a swing in the third round than a swing
05:44 in the first round.
05:45 - Agreed.
05:46 - All right.
05:47 Let's go to the fourth round.
05:48 Tell me what you got the Raiders doing.
05:50 What are the silver and black adding if you are the GM in round four?
05:54 - I went back and forth on whether they take this player in the fourth round or the guy
06:01 that I had them take in the fifth round, who I could also see them taking in the fourth
06:04 round, but we'll get to him next.
06:07 So in the fourth round here, I had the Raiders going back for some offensive line help, trying
06:10 to shore up the interior line now.
06:12 I had them taking a guy with a lot of experience out of the Big Ten and Zach Sinker from Michigan,
06:17 who played a ton of football, a little bit older prospect, but a guy who you know is
06:22 not going to be intimidated by going up against top competition.
06:26 You know has, you know, obviously there's a little bit of concern there, not just with
06:31 the age.
06:32 And I apologize, I'm looking at my notes just to make sure like, like you do, so I don't
06:37 screw something up, but also, you know, health wise, how's he going to be?
06:41 But I think that he, he fits well in there and I think he fits well in what the Raiders
06:47 are trying to do.
06:48 Yeah, I think he'd be an excellent pick and I think he's a guy that you could absolutely
06:54 see starting.
06:55 Yes, I think he's good to go.
06:58 You grab a fourth rounder and look at them with a potential starting, you know, within
07:04 a two year window, three year at the most, I think that's a big one.
07:08 All right, when we head to the fifth round, what do you got the Silver and Black doing
07:10 in the fifth round, man?
07:12 This is someone who I believe they like and I could see them having to go up a round or
07:18 so earlier to get it, but I have him in my mock in the fifth round and that's Ray Davis,
07:24 the running back out of Kentucky.
07:25 Kentucky's produced some, some really good running backs the last few years and Ray Davis
07:31 was arguably the best one.
07:33 I mean, he had a mad monster 2023 season.
07:37 I think that when you look at what he will be able to do as a rookie, he steps in, there's
07:42 no need for him to be the guy.
07:45 So he goes into, you know, that running back by committee, plays a little bit behind Samir
07:50 White.
07:51 Maybe he works his way into some third down duty, depending on how he evolves as a pass
07:56 blocker, let alone pass catcher.
07:58 But he's somebody who fits well into a running back by committee and I think that it would
08:03 be this the type of pick, you know, you're early, early enough on day three, good time
08:09 to take a running back and if you can get him there, I think it would be phenomenal.
08:13 Yeah, I had him described to me by one scout as a poor man's Josh Jacobs.
08:20 He's not the best pass catcher yet, which neither was Josh when he came out of Alabama,
08:25 but he he runs tough and he's a tough runner and he's not afraid for to go get yak with
08:33 some contact.
08:34 I think that would be a great pick.
08:36 All right, let's move to the sixth round.
08:37 What do you got going on there, Matt?
08:39 I think when you get to this point in the draft, you're either taking some, you know,
08:44 big swings or you're doubling up on depth at positions of need.
08:50 So I have the Raiders going with another tackle.
08:52 I have them taking Walter Rouse out of Oklahoma.
08:55 I think that he would be a guy who you could potentially have developed and would be someone
09:02 as insurance behind.
09:05 To least for Wagga, Colton Miller and you don't have to really rush him along.
09:09 You can bring him along a little bit slower pace and he can eventually potentially be
09:15 a contributor for you.
09:16 So I think that when you go into the the sixth round and you're getting alignment, you're
09:20 not expecting them to be a starter.
09:23 You're maybe not even expecting to pick to be a massive pick right away.
09:28 But you take somebody that has some traits and has some developmental ability and you
09:31 go with.
09:32 All right, let's go to the sixth round.
09:34 What do you got going on there?
09:39 How many picks do you have left?
09:40 You have two, right?
09:41 Well, make sure I have the right thing.
09:42 All right.
09:43 Seventh round.
09:44 I'm sorry.
09:45 I got I thought I thought I messed it up.
09:46 Sorry.
09:47 I want to make sure you just had to take the you just had him taking the Oklahoma tackle
09:49 in the sixth round.
09:50 Yes.
09:51 So now we got to seven round picks.
09:53 I apologize about that.
09:54 No, it's all good.
09:55 I totally, totally.
09:56 It's all good.
09:57 I'm here.
09:58 I had them going in a seven round.
09:59 I have two defensive backs.
10:03 The first one I go with, I have Trey Taylor out of Air Force.
10:07 He's a safety.
10:08 He's a guy that they can put in on special teams.
10:11 You know, you're getting a high character guy from one of the service academies.
10:14 Maybe he works his way up into the safety rotation.
10:18 But this is a guy that when you're going seventh round, you're thinking, well, who's going
10:22 to be a special teams contributor?
10:23 Who's going to be a guy that adds to the, you know, the backbone of the team and can
10:29 maybe develop?
10:30 And I think that he would be a good fit there.
10:31 Plus, you know, safety is not a major position in need for the Raiders, but it is something
10:35 that they'll probably look to leave the draft at least one of them.
10:38 So I think that fits here.
10:40 All right.
10:42 And who's the other seven from it?
10:43 You said two defensive back.
10:45 The other seven round pick I have them going with last year in the draft.
10:49 They took to Corian Bennett.
10:52 Was that two years ago or last year?
10:53 Last year.
10:54 Last year.
10:55 I want to be sure.
10:56 This is a time flies.
10:57 Last year, it took you Corian Bennett corner out of Maryland.
11:00 I haven't gone back to Maryland.
11:01 I'm taking Tarheave still, who would be again, this type of pick that they need corners.
11:07 They already got one earlier in the draft with Max Milton in the second round.
11:10 This is where they double up the corner.
11:12 Young guy really came on strong towards the end of his tenure at Maryland.
11:18 I think his best football could be ahead of him.
11:20 So he's projected as probably a seventh round pick six, seven round pick on most of the,
11:25 you know, the draft evaluation sites.
11:26 I think this would be a good spot for the Raiders to get him and add him to the mix
11:30 there.
11:31 Wow.
11:32 No defensive lineman.
11:33 I think they could go defensive lineman in round one if a walk or a couple others aren't
11:37 there.
11:38 That surprises me.
11:39 That's an interesting board for you, Matt.
11:41 I really, really appreciate it.
11:44 Is it hard for you to believe?
11:45 I mean, next week, we will be really digging in all draft, the latest rumors, what we're
11:52 hearing.
11:53 Is it hard for you to believe?
11:54 It seems like the season just ended.
11:56 It is.
11:57 It's crazy.
11:58 And I will add that I had him doubling up on a couple of spots there.
12:02 You could definitely see a defensive lineman or another position there.
12:07 You know, maybe I, my approach, I'm not, that was my approach there.
12:11 I'm not sure what Tom.
12:13 I wasn't being critical.
12:14 I wanted your approach.
12:15 No, I know.
12:16 I know.
12:17 And I know that defensive line is something that they're looking to bolster up as well.
12:22 So I think this is a draft where they would hit on a bunch of different positions of need
12:27 and getting back to the point you just made.
12:29 I can't believe that it's not just draft season.
12:32 It's almost draft week and it flies, man.
12:35 It's crazy.
12:36 I totally agree.
12:37 Matt will be back with us next week where we'll really dig in more on the draft, on
12:41 the latest rumors and thoughts and things that we're hearing.
12:44 And it'll be a good one.
12:46 Remember Matt, tell them where to find you on X.
12:48 You can find me on X at MattHillatic919.
12:57 And I got a bunch of different new Raider fan followers over the last few months.
13:00 And I'm always welcoming more for the season and into the season.
13:03 So find me over there.
13:05 All right.
13:06 And remember, you can also find me when you go to Instagram @HondoSR on X, formerly known
13:11 as Twitter @HondoCarpenter.
13:14 Thanks everybody.