Oakland Raiders: Late-season wins sabotaging already crumbling strategy

The Oakland Raiders have won two of their last three games coming into Week 17, perhaps the worst thing they could do for their plan for the future.

The recipe for the Oakland Raiders down the home stretch of the 2018 regular season appeared quite simple. In the interest of preserving their position with perhaps the top pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, all the Raiders had to do was continue losing. Considering that they were 2-10 at one point, that seemed easy enough. However, that’s not been the case.

Over their last three games, the Raiders have gone 2-1 with victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos, both of them apparent upsets when there was no need for them. Even with just one win instead of two, the Raiders would have the second overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft right now. And by going 0-3 over that stretch, they would be at No. 1.

Instead, Jon Gruden’s Raiders currently have the fourth-overall pick in the 2019 draft. There’s no doubt that a team that is in desperate need of a talent infusion moving forward can find a valuable piece with the fourth pick. However, given the way that the rest of their strategy for the 2019 draft has gone, it’s a tough look for the Raiders to see even their own pick becoming less valuable.

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There are few defenses for trading Khalil Mack and, at this point, perhaps for trading Amari Cooper as well. However, Oakland’s strategy in doing so was to acquire first-round picks in the interest of rebuilding this roster quickly. Unfortunately for them, they made a miscalculation in that regard.

Entering the final week of the regular season, the two first-round picks that the Raiders acquired are going to fall in the mid-to-late 20s of the 2019 draft. While those aren’t worthless picks by any stretch, they are far less valuable than the Raiders either hoped or believed that they would be.

With that transpiring, however, the one thing that Oakland had going for them was their own selection as one of the worst teams in the 2018 season. The chances to pick first-overall and land a blue-chipper like Nick Bosa seemed high, but their recent wins have thwarted those chances in a major way.

Again, this isn’t to say that the Raiders are completely out of picking a possible star by picking at No. 4. However, it is to say that they’ve made their pick less valuable on the surface by winning down the stretch when losing was more pertinent to their cause. As such, their plan appears as if it’s continuing to unravel.