Las Vegas has plenty of draft capability
The Las Vegas Raiders currently have a league-high 12 picks going into the April 27-29 NFL draft.
Yet, more importantly, they have among the best draft capital among the 32 teams entering the draft. That’s important for a team that is bent on improving through the draft and changing it’s poor performance in the draft in recent years.
According to Tankathon.com, Las Vegas has the fourth most draft capital in the league. Their draft power rankings is based of the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective, which gives a valuation of each draft pick.
The Raiders currently have 1,124.5 points on this list. The Houston Texans are the runaway leader on the draft capital list with 1,470 points.
Most of the Raiders’ capital is based off of their third-day cache of picks. Las Vegas has eight picks on the third day.
So, most of their capability will be to maneuver big time on Day Three. Yet, some of these picks can come into play for power on Day Two as well. If the Raiders want to move up from No. 7, they will likely have to dig into their three Day Two picks to sweeten their draft offer.
While the trade of standout Darren Waller to the New York Giants this month hurt, it did boost las Vegas’ group of premium picks. The Giants sent the No. 100 pick to Las Vegas, near the end of the third round.
Now, the Raiders have four picks in the top 100 (considered premium picks). The Raiders picks at No. 7, 38, 70 and 100. Eight teams have better overall draft capital than Las Vegas in the first three rounds.
In addition to having picks in each round, Las Vegas built this draft capital through, getting compensatory picks from last year’s free-agency period and late-round trades.
Now, with this capital, the Raiders need to make it pay off in terms of more maneuvering and with picking the right players.