Las Vegas Raiders reset at quarterback in early 2021 NFL Mock Draft

Mid-round picks keep stocking up the Las Vegas Raiders defense.

There’s a good chance that Jaylen Twyman, if he can capitalize on what he did in the 2019 season for Pittsburgh, could play himself easily into being a first-round pick. However, he fell to the Raiders at No. 40 in this mock draft and there was no way to pass him up.

Despite the attention that the silver and black have paid to the trenches, they could still use more help on the interior of the defensive line. Twyman offers that with tremendous upside and prowess as a pass-rushing threat on the inside. If he can develop his run defense a bit more, he’d be a weapon in Vegas.

Johnathan Abram returning to the Raiders for the 2020 season will be huge for a secondary that, frankly, has some question marks that they need to be answered. His ability as a versatile box safety will be huge — but that still leaves some question in terms of a deep coverage player.

That’s the area where Richie Grant out of UCF thrives. Though he could stand to work on his discipline in deep zone, his instincts, ball skills and coverage ability are obvious. He’d be a tremendous asset to pair with Abram on the back end of the defense.

Having Xavier Thomas in the fourth round could look downright silly if the Clemson product plays to his potential. He arrived with the Tigers as a highly touted 5-star recruit and flashed as a freshman but then dealt with injuries and under-performed as a sophomore. Now the hope is that he can live up to his potential.

Thomas simply needs to become a better technical player who can maximize his physical tools. He’ll have the opportunity as Thomas is expected to be the primary edge pass-rusher for the Tigers in 2020 and, if he capitalizes on that, he could very well be a top-50 pick. Here, the Raiders bank on the physical potential he has without the collegiate production.