Oakland Raiders: Grading every 2018 NFL Draft pick

Grade: F

So the Raiders got rid of Marquette King only for him to sign with a division rival. Then, they concocted a backup plan that included overdrafting Johnny Townsend in the fifth round after a small run on punters forced them to hit the panic button.

Sounds like a solid approach for Oakland…

Well now they’ve got their punter in Townsend, a former Florida standout who wasn’t even among the best punters in the 2018 draft class. And yet, here we are talking about him in the fifth round. The FIFTH ROUND! The only punter who would have been worth this pick was Michael Dickson, who is a far superior talent to the former Gator.

Now don’t get me wrong — Townsend has an excellent leg. In fact, his leg was among the strongest in college football in 2017. However, his ability to pin opponents deep is lackluster to say the least. There’s no accuracy to his kicks; he just boots it as far as he can every time.

The Raiders already made a bad decision to let King go. Spending a fifth-round pick on Townsend was an equally ugly move, if not worse.