Oakland Raiders fan Sebastian Bodden is all geared up and ready to hear their third-day draft picks announced from the Welcome to Las Vegas sign complete with Gov. Brian Sandoval and others on Saturday, April 29, 2017.
Thursday, April 16, 2020 | 2 a.m.
The 2020 NFL Draft was poised to become the grandest draft presentation in the history of the league, all because of Las Vegas.
Renderings of plans to turn the Caesars Forum area into the draft main stage/fan experience, and the Bellagio fountains into a red carpet—approved by the Clark County Commission in January—looked like something out of a science-fiction novel. But those setups will remain fantasy for now, as the 2020 NFL Draft proceeds April 23-25 in a strictly virtual format after the coronavirus forced the cancellation of the public event.
There’s no underselling the hit to Las Vegas. The 2019 draft in Nashville, Tennessee, brought 600,000 visitors across the three days with a $224 million economic impact, numbers this town would have easily eclipsed, according to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Goodell has promised a future draft return to Las Vegas—likely in 2022, since Cleveland has already been awarded next year’s draft—and while that’s reassuring, it won’t quite be the same. Regardless of how it’s held, the 2020 NFL Draft shapes up as potentially historic on both a local and league-wide level.
Here’s why it’s so meaningful to both the newly minted Las Vegas Raiders and the NFL as a whole.
Raider rally
Everything the Raiders have done since finishing last season reflects a feeling that they can contend in their first year in Las Vegas. If frequent reminders on how close they were to the playoffs— from everyone from owner Mark Davis to punter A.J. Cole—weren’t enough, the front office has put actions behind the words.
General Manager Mike Mayock and coach Jon Gruden were aggressive in free agency to prove they’re officially past the build-for-the-future mindset of the past few years. They expect to win now. The final step of that transformation needs to be a successful draft. And on the surface, the opportunity is there in a major way.
The Raiders have as much draft capital as any team in the NFL. They’re one of only two teams (along with the Miami Dolphins) with two picks inside the top 20 overall.
The Dolphins’ fire sale at the start of last season gives them a league-high six picks in the first three rounds, but the Raiders are one of four teams— with the Vikings, Broncos and Ravens—closely behind with five such selections. With two first-round picks and three third-round picks, the Raiders could address every lingering area of need or put together a package to trade up if they find a player they view as a star they must have.
The two positions where they need the most help—wide receiver and cornerback—are conveniently stacked this year. Pro Football Focus has 11 wide receivers and nine cornerbacks ranked among its top 50 overall draft prospects. For comparison’s sake, PFF had six receivers and seven cornerbacks in the top 50 a year ago.
Barring early trades, which are always a possible-if-not-likely scenario, the Raiders should be able to nab one of the two top-end receivers—Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy or Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb—with the No. 12 overall pick. Meanwhile, Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah is the only cornerback unanimously graded above their No. 19 pick, leaving Las Vegas linked with defensive backs such as LSU’s Kristian Fulton and Utah’s Jaylon Johnson.
It’s impossible to predict exactly how the Raiders will proceed in this year’s draft, but it’s not an overstatement to suggest that whatever they do will greatly determine their early success in Las Vegas. It’s unfortunate that they couldn’t have done it in front of their new local fan base decked out in official Las Vegas Raiders gear, which Davis had planned to unveil for sale on site.
Quarterbacks galore
Quarterbacks reign supreme in the NFL. Fair or not, NFL Drafts are ultimately most remembered for the big-name passers taken.
This year has quite a group. Many mock drafts are calling for this to be the first year since 1999 in which three quarterbacks will be taken within the first six picks. Throw in a trade or two and there’s even the possibility of three quarterbacks going in the top five.
Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow out of LSU is practically guaranteed to be the top overall pick to the Cincinnati Bengals—he’s minus-5000 (risking $50 to win $1) in the betting odds at MGM Resorts.
Injury concerns are the main factor for Burrow being scouted a level above Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, who has long been linked to the Dolphins, who pick fifth. With Tagovailoa’s medicals supposedly in good shape after hip surgery, he could draw other trade-up suitors.
Oregon’s Justin Herbert rounds out the trio. He was less productive than the other two in college and struggled with consistency, but some view his tools—honed under current UNLV coach/former Oregon offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo—as even more promising.
One other quarterback, Utah State’s Jordan Love, is a near-consensus first-round selection. And there’s even a chance a second-tier prospect like Washington’s Jacob Eason, Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts or Georgia’s Jake Fromm could sneak into the first round.
At a minimum, Burrow, Tagovailoa and Herbert will be among the most scrutinized players in the NFL for the next few seasons.
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
