Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

5 priorities for the Las Vegas Raiders at the NFL combine

Gruden

Ben Margot / AP

Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden answers questions during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. Los Angeles won the game 33-13.

Though the physical portion of the NFL scouting combine doesn’t begin until this evening, team personnel and prospects have already been gathered in Indianapolis for days now, meaning that draft season is underway.

While the event is sometimes downplayed or outright ridiculed for its emphasis on athletic testing and raw numbers like the 40-yard dash and the bench press, there's more to the combine than working out in shorts. The 40 times are important, but so is the stuff that goes on behind the scenes, like meetings between team execs and players, meetings between team execs and other team execs, and meetings between team execs and agents. Those interactions lay the groundwork not just for the draft, but for the entire NFL offseason.

With all that going on, this is a good time to look at what the Las Vegas Raiders can accomplish at the combine this week:

Figure out Carr’s trade value

If the Raiders are planning on moving on from quarterback Derek Carr — whether such a move is imminent or sometime in the future, it makes no difference — this is an ideal time to gauge the type of return he could bring on the trade market.

At 28 years old, Carr should be entering the nexus of his physical and mental primes. And with three years and $63.5 left on his contract (only $2.9 million guaranteed), he could actually be a value acquisition for a team that is looking for a quality starting QB.

What would a quarterback-needy team be willing to trade for Carr? A first-rounder is probably out of the question — but you never know. What about a second rounder? A second and a third? Two thirds? The range is hard to nail down without canvassing league executives — which is something the Raiders' braintrust of Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden can do this week. Las Vegas should leave the combine with some kind of idea of what Carr is worth — just in case.

Separate the receivers

Nothing is ever for certain when it comes to the NFL draft, but it seems pretty likely that Las Vegas is going to take a wide receiver in the first round, either with the No. 12 or No. 19 overall pick. The big question is, which receiver do the Raiders prefer?

There may not be an answer to that question right now, and that's OK. Judging by most mock drafts, there’s a decent chance the Raiders will get their choice of the first receiver off the board, or at least the second, so now is the time to start narrowing down the options. The combine can help with that, depending on what qualities Gruden and Mayock want in their top receiver. Do they want a burner? Then Alabama’s Henry Ruggs and TCU’s Jalen Reagor will be players to watch when they run the 40-yard dash. Do they want a sharp route runner? Then the 3-cone drill will be important for Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy. Do they want a big, physical 50/50 winner? Then they’ll want to pay attention to how 6-foot-2 Colorado wideout Laviska Shenault performs in explosive tests like the broad jump. And so on.

All the prep work won’t be completed this week — extensive film study and the receivers’ pro days will be important, too — but the Raiders should come out of this week with a pretty solid idea of how the receivers stack up in their mind.

Talk to Tom

It would be against the rules to talk directly to pending free agent Tom Brady before March 16, but there are ways around that little technicality, especially at a weeklong event like the combine. Team execs and player agents will be in close confines for days on end, making it possible to get an unofficial assessment of just how serious Brady is about testing free agency.

If Brady is actually going to contemplate leaving New England, then Gruden and Mayock will have to structure their offseason plans around trying to bring him to Las Vegas. If it seems like Brady only intends to test the process before an inevitable return to the Patriots, then Las Vegas can move on to other quarterback-related issues.

Waiting for the start of free agency is tired. Gathering intel on Brady at the combine is wired.

Find the value on defense

The Raiders were simply horrendous on defense last year, and all the receivers and quarterbacks and skill-position players won’t make any difference in 2020 unless Las Vegas can stop opponents from scoring once in a while.

The problem is, the Raiders aren’t one player away from turning around the defense, a fact that Mayock acknowledged in his meeting with the media at the combine. So could trading down and using multiple picks on defenders be the most prudent strategy?

If that’s the case, the Raiders will have to put extensive prep work into the players who figure to be available in rounds 2 and 3, whether it’s at linebacker, cornerback, safety or anywhere in between. The combine can help in that regard, because while many top-end players like Ohio State defensive end Chase Young will choose not to participate in drills, most of the Day 2 and 3 prospects will work out.

Trade talk

While moving down and acquiring more picks seems to be the more likely result on draft day, is there a scenario in which the Raiders could find themselves trading up for a top-end prospect? If so, those talks have to begin now (if they already haven’t).

Whether the target is an impact defender like Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons or Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah (both are widely projected to go in the top 10) or a true stunner like Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the parameters should be set in advance.

If Mayock and Gruden fall in love with a Simmons or an Okudah or a Tagovailoa this week and make it a priority to go get them, now is the time to identify a potential trade partner and start framing the deal.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.

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