NFL mock draft from The Athletic has Raiders trade into bottom 1st round to fill big need

[ASFN Admin]

Finding yourself drafting just outside the top five can tend to have people thinking trading down is the right move. Mainly because often times the big ticket guys are gone by then and if your team is picking that high, it likely has a lot of needs to fill, so collecting picks seems wise.

But what about trading up? And not into the top five.

In the most recent mock draft from The Athletic, Bruce Feldman sees the Raiders making their move not with their pick at six, but with their day two picks in order to jump back into the bottom of the first round.

Before they do that, they get what could be considered the best player available at a high value position at six.

6. Las Vegas Raiders: Jalon Walker, edge, Georgia

I know there’s a lot of speculation that Vegas will take Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, but Walker, the 2024 Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top linebacker, is too tempting to miss out on. His production, explosiveness and character have UGA and opposing coaches gushing. If the Raiders aspire to be like the Philadelphia Eagles, getting a game-wrecking defender from Georgia is a good place to start.

At 6-1, 243 with 32-inch arms, Walker doesn’t have great length, but he was a dominant player who shined in big games for the Dawgs. In two meetings last fall against Texas, which had legit offensive line prospects, Walker had four sacks and six TFLs. In the SEC title game in 2023, he had two sacks against Alabama. He can be a playmaker as an off-the-ball linebacker or harass QBs on third downs as an edge rusher.

“He is a problem on first and second down and a major problem on third downs,” said an SEC O-line coach who has faced a lot of first-round defensive players the past two years. “He was the best defensive player we saw all year. He’s got stuff in him like Will Anderson. Very similar. He’s so explosive. I think this guy is a complete stud.”“He has a lot of position flex — they dropped him (into coverage), rushed him, blitzed him,” another SEC offensive coach said. “He’s super twitchy and has an array of pass rush moves. He killed our (starting offensive tackle), and that kid is a really talented player who’s also gonna play in the NFL.”

After getting one of the draft's premier pass rushers, in this mock, the Raiders then make an aggressive move to ensure they address a major need at wide receiver.

32. Las Vegas Raiders (via Eagles*): Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State, WR

The Eagles trade the No. 32 pick to the Raiders for the No. 37 pick and a fourth-rounder (No. 108), as Las Vegas scrambles to jump back into the first round to make sure it gets the best slot receiver in the draft.

The 6-1, 202-pound Egbuka had a breakthrough season in 2022, when he caught 74 passes for 1,151 yards and 10 TDs. After dealing with injuries in 2023, he put up similar numbers in 2024 in helping the Buckeyes win the national title. Ohio State coach Ryan Day told people during Egbuka’s freshman season that he was so football savvy that Day thought the young wideout was the player on the roster whom he could most see as a coach down the road. The former baseball player is excellent at tracking the ball and is extremely competitive.

He ran a little faster than people thought, going 4.45 in the 40 at OSU’s pro day, where he jumped 38 inches. New Raiders OC Chip Kelly spent the 2024 season running the Buckeyes offense and knows just how good this guy is. Egbuka had more catches (14) in third-and-medium situations than anyone in the country last season. Expect him to have multiple seasons in the NFL with 100-plus receptions. Buckeyes wideouts don’t bust, and I’d be shocked if this guy did.

“He’s as polished as they come,” a Big Ten DBs coach said. “Terrific route runner who sets guys up really well. I think he’s better in the slot than outside, but he can do both. He has a great feel for space. He’s also bigger and stronger than you think.”

“He’s good at everything,” a Big Ten secondary coach said. “Our players were really high on him. He’s big enough to play big. I could see why the Ohio State coaches would say that Egbuka’s so football smart. Jeremiah (Smith) was so special, the other guys got overshadowed, but he’s good. Look how long he has done it there — that matters.”

So, the Raiders make sure they get Egbuka, rather than hope a team atop the second round gets him before they can. And Chip Kelly gets his best receiver back, something he no doubt is pushing to have in his offense in Las Vegas.

The added benefit to getting Egbuka at the bottom of the first round rather than waiting to see if he falls to the Raiders at 37 is getting that fifth year option in his contract. If you believe in him, you think that option year will be executed and the Raiders will get one more year of that sweet rookie contract value before he gets paid.

This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: NFL Mock Draft: Raiders trade into bottom 1st round to fill big need

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