The Las Vegas Raiders saw the arms race happening around them in the AFC West and knew they couldn’t sit idly by if they wanted to compete. So, they sacrificed high draft capital in the 2022 draft to reunite Derek Carr with college receiver Davante Adams. The Raiders also spent big bucks on edge rusher Chandler Jones.
Las Vegas will be without its first and second-round picks in 2022. They only have five total picks in this class and none before pick 86.
I used the Mock Draft simulator from NFL Mock Draft Database. For this simulation, I used the consensus big board accumulated by NFL MDD, with the realistic draft mode setting.
Let’s see how it plays out.
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS: 7-ROUND MOCK DRAFT
3-86: Cole Strange, G, Chattanooga
The Raiders could use another versatile interior offensive lineman. Enter Chattanooga Moccasin, Cole Strange. Strange had an eye-opening game against Kentucky this fall. He bullied the Wildcats’ defensive linemen all day. Then Strange came to the Senior Bowl and continued his dominance of bigger school talent. He did play center a good bit in Mobile as well.
4-126: Kalon Barnes, CB, Baylor
It couldn’t be a Raider draft without selecting the fastest player in the pool of prospects. Barnes ran an official 4.23 at the combine. He has decent length and ball skills. Vegas can use some depth in the CB room and Barnes can provide that.
THE REST OF THE DRAFT
5-164: Micah McFadden, LB, Indiana
5-165: Obinna Eze, OT, TCU
7-227: Ali Fayad, EDGE, Western Michigan
PREVIOUS TEAM MOCK DRAFTS
JAX – DET – CIN – WSH – NYJ – SEA – ATL – NO – NYG – LAR – CHI – SF – MIN – MIA – CLV – LAC – CAR – HOU – DEN – IND – BUF