D. Ross Cameron/Associated Press

One of the rumors heading into this year's NFL draft was that the Oakland Raiders might make a push to get Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray and could trade up to the top overall pick to do so.

But head coach Jon Gruden told Peter King of Pro Football Talk that such a trade was never a consideration:

"We all loved Murray. That doesn't mean we were gonna take him. How do you not love his performance, his playing style, what he accomplished? I had a blast with him [when the Raiders worked him out pre-draft in Dallas]. We didn't think about going up to number one. We did look at [Nick] Bosa, [Quinnen] Williams, but not going to one.

"We did our homework on the quarterbacks. You gotta know who's coming into the league at that position. There was a lot of speculation that we were gonna take a quarterback. I kept watching a guy on NFL Network saying we're going up to get Murray. Then he says we're going up to get [Dwayne] Haskins. Then he says we're going up to get [Drew] Lock. We're trading [Derek] Carr. I don't understand it."

Instead, the Arizona Cardinals selected Murray No. 1 overall and the Raiders stayed put, surprising most draft pundits by selecting Clemson's Clelin Ferrell with the No. 4 overall pick. While that selection might have been a stretch from a value perspective, Oakland desperately needed to upgrade its pass rush after registering an NFL-worst 13 sacks last season.

No other team had fewer than 30 sacks, to put that number in perspective.

The Raiders than used the No. 24 overall pick to select running back Josh Jacobs, the No. 27 pick to select safety Jonathan Abrams and the No. 40 pick to take cornerback Trayvon Mullen. Each selection filled a need, and with veteran quarterback Derek Carr on the roster, the Raiders could afford to address other positions.

It was a transformative season for the team after they also traded for wide receiver Antonio Brown and added offensive tackle Trent Brown, defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, safety LaMarcus Joyner and wideout Tyrell Williams, among others, in free agency.

Those moves, combined with some of the team's young, developing players returning, has expectations much higher in Oakland than they've been in some time.

"You start to feel like there's some roots that are starting to grow here," Gruden told King. "We've had so much turnover here. So many different coaches. So many different coordinators. So many different players. You just hope we can get some roots and start growing up a little bit."