2019 NFL mock draft: Oakland Raiders select Byron Murphy

The Oakland Raiders are going to have a busy Thursday next week. They’re currently slated to have three first-round picks, which should be more than enough ammunition for Jon Gruden and company to get some immediate impact-makers for the 2019 season.

jjones164 has acted as Raiders general manager in our Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft. Thus far, he’s grabbed LSU linebacker Devin White and Mississippi State defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Will the Raiders make the trifecta on defense or finally address the other side of the ball.

With the 27th pick in the POD Community Mock Draft, the Raiders select Washington cornerback Byron Murphy. Here’s the explanation:

“As stated at Pick #24, I would take Murphy there, but knew Philly and/or Indy would be taking a DT and I wanted Simmons too. My plan worked, as I add premier talents to all three levels of my defense for the next half decade.

Murphy will pair nicely with Gareon Conley. The secondary struggled last season, and so far their biggest acquisition to improve this department was THE Nevin Lawson. This will come as news to Lions’ fans, but Nevin Lawson never had an interception in Detroit. Perhaps being a Raider will bring him good fortune if he’s there in 2020, considering his last recorded interception was in Las Vegas (USU @ UNLV, Nov. 9, 2013). But, I’ll gladly take the standout Husky that’s posted 74 tackles, seven TFLs, 1.0 sack, six INTs (1 TD), and 20 PDs the past two seasons in Washington.

Some will lobby that the Raiders need to take a quarterback. I’m not buying it. Antonio Brown came here for money and Derek Carr. Brown likes Carr so much that the same player that skipped a potential playoff play-in game in Week 17 last season once asked to go back on the field in the fourth quarter of a Pro Bowl game just to play with Carr. Coach Gruden also prefers veteran QBs (see Brad Johnson and Rich Gannon) and pushed Carr to improve his game last season. If we win with Carr, we’d regret drafting a first round QB. If we lose with Carr and next year’s class turns out as good as it looks, we’d regret drafting a first round QB. Final comparison of first round picks are below. What I picked vs. the Quinnen Williams route. Blast away!

I Picked:

#4: Devin White (LB –LSU)
#24: Jeffery Simmons (DT – Miss St)
#27: Byron Murphy (CB – Wash)

I would’ve picked:

#4: Quinnen Williams (DT – Bama)
#24: Byron Murphy (CB – Wash)
#27: Erik McCoy (IOL – Texas)

Catch up on all of the picks with our Community Mock Draft Tracker