Las Vegas Raiders trade up for Tua Tagovialoa in wild 7-round mock draft
QB. Crimson Tide . Tua Tagovailoa. 1. player. 829.
TRADE: Raiders trade picks No. 12, 19, 81, 111, 142 to Lions for No. 3
Sometimes you’ve got to make a splash. Moving to a new city and a new stadium while your new city is hosting the NFL Draft is one of those times. So rather than sit on their two first-round picks in the middle of the round and get what comes to them, the Las Vegas Raiders instead make the call to the Detroit Lions to jump ahead of the Miami Dolphins and get their potential franchise quarterback: Tua Tagovailoa out of Alabama.
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Derek Carr has been a fine quarterback for the Raiders. But why he settles into that category is he’s never been consistently the surefire guy under center. He’s prone to way too many bouts of poor or overly conservative play that have held him back in big moments or even just from keeping his team from making a viable run. And as Gruden and Mayock can save big money ($16.5 million to only $5 million dead cap) by cutting Carr, they do so.
Yes, the Raiders will have to give up the farm to move up to the No. 3 pick, sending back both first-rounders, one of their third-rounders and their fourth- and fifth-round selections as well. For Tua Tagovailoa, however, it’s worth it.
The only concern with Tua at this point is the hip injury that ended his 2019 season prematurely and some durability questions. However, clean bills of health throughout the draft process will at least ease concern about the hip. And when you get past that, he checks every box for a franchise quarterback.
Tagovailoa’s feel for the game, accuracy to every level of the field and ability to avoid pressure are all elite traits. The Crimson Tide star may not have the biggest arm but he has more than enough strength to make every throw necessary. He’s every bit of a franchise-altering player that can come in and start to lead a team to Super Bowls.
With the move to Las Vegas, the Raiders need that player more than anything. They need the figurehead savior to don the silver and black and lead them into the promised land of, uh, Sin City. It’ll be costly to trade up for it but it’s also worth it.