13) Las Vegas Raiders: Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
The Las Vegas Raiders have some absolute studs on the defensive front in Maxx Crosby, Christian Wilkins, and (they hope) 2023 first-round pick Tyree Wilson. It’s time for this team to add some studs on the back end, and Quinyon Mitchell fits the bill.
New head coach Antonio Pierce wants to dictate the energy in every single game the Raiders play, and he’s going to be aggressive, likely to a fault. If you want to be aggressive up front defensively, you’ve got to have defensive backs who can match that kind of confidence in coverage. Mitchell made a ton of plays on the ball the last three years at Toledo and can matchup with anyone both physically and athletically.
14) New Orleans Saints: Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State
The New Orleans Saints sit back at the 14th overall pick and wind up getting maybe the most NFL-ready pass protector in this class. Olu Fashanu was expected – for the longest time – to be a top-five overall pick.
Why isn’t he projected there anymore? Are the receivers in this draft that good? Do teams just really not need tackles? Is the tackle class just that good? There are any number of reasons, and you can venture a guess, but if Fashanu gets past the Jets at 10, he won’t be lasting much longer than this.