What if Mike Mayock had picked for the Raiders in last six drafts?

Few NFL clubs get the opportunity to sign a GM whose mock drafts and player prospects are a matter of public record going back nearly a decade. When the Raiders hired Mike Mayock as their General Manager, that’s exactly what they got. So, it’s somewhat easy to go back a few drafts and see what Mayock would have done with the Raiders’ picks had he been the one calling the shots.

For this, we won’t strictly go by mock drafts. This isn’t a look back to call him out for how well he predicted all 32 teams in the league. That’s a pointless exercise here. Mainly because as a GM, you don’t get to order the entire draft however you like. You have to deal with other teams screwing up the order you projected. So, with that in mind we look back to the past six drafts. We’d go back further, but the Raiders didn’t have first round picks in the 2011 and 2012 drafts.

2018 draft – 15 overall

The Raiders would also have liked to have had McGlinchey. But the 49ers took him with the 9th pick just before them, so they traded down from 10 to 15 and took Miller. But would Mayock have taken Miller in this scenario? Highly unlikely. Miller was his 31st ranked prospect who he had going to the Patriots at 23 overall after tackle Isaiah Wynn who the Patriots actually selected at 23. By far his top ranked prospect on the board when the Raiders picked at 15 was his 6th overall…

Mayock pick: S Derwin James

Raiders pick: OT Kolton Miller

2017 draft – 24 overall

At 24 overall, both Robinson and Gareon Conley were on the board. Mayock would have selected Robinson even though he rated Conley higher (11) on his board than Robinson (16).

Mayock pick: OT Cam Robinson

Raiders pick: CB Gareon Conley

2016 draft – 14 overall

Myles Jack fell into the second round because of a knee injury. But Joseph had a major injury concern too. Jack was still Mayock’s 5th ranked prospect overall while Joseph was 19th.

Mayock pick: LB Myles Jack

Raiders pick: S Karl Joseph

2015 draft – 4 overall

Well, this one was tidy. Raiders took the player he actually had them taking in his mock.

Mayock pick: WR Amari Cooper

Raiders pick: WR Amari Cooper

2014 draft – 5 overall

Mayock actually had Sammy Watkins to the Raiders in his mock draft. Bills traded up ahead of the Raiders to take Watkins, so he wasn’t available. Khalil Mack was Mike Mayock’s number one prospect in the entire draft and he expected him to be gone at third overall, but the Jags went with QB Blake Bortles. Pretty clear what Mayock would have done with this pick.

Mayock pick: ED Khalil Mack

Raiders pick: ED Khalil Mack

2013 draft – 12 overall

Originally the Raiders had the third overall pick. They traded with the Dolphins to the 12th overall spot. Mayock had the Raiders taking Sharrif Floyd at 3rd overall as he was his second overall prospect in this draft. Floyd was still on the board at 12 but Raiders went with Mayock’s 14th ranked prospect in DJ Hayden. While Floyd ended up falling to the 23rd overall pick.

Mayock pick: DI Sharrif Floyd

Raiders pick: CB DJ Hayden

Now that that exercise is complete, let’s compare what Mayock would have done with what the Raiders did.

Raiders vs Mike Mayock

Year Raiders pick All Pro Pro Bowls Games Starts Starter seasons Mayock pick All Pro Pro Bowls Games Starts Starting seasons Year Raiders pick All Pro Pro Bowls Games Starts Starter seasons Mayock pick All Pro Pro Bowls Games Starts Starting seasons 2013 DJ Hayden 0 0 71 32 1 Shariff Floyd 0 0 44 24 2 2014 Khalil Mack 3 4 78 77 5 Khalil Mack 3 4 78 77 5 2015 Amari Cooper 0 3 61 56 4 Amari Cooper 0 3 61 56 4 2016 Karl Joseph 0 0 40 32 3 Myles Jack 0 0 48 42 2 2017 Gareon Conley 0 0 17 14 1 Cam Robinson 0 0 18 17 1 2018 Kolton Miller 0 0 16 16 1 Derwin James 1 1 16 16 1 2019 Totals 3 7 283 227 15 Totals 4 8 265 232 15

As you can see, there isn’t a huge difference between the results of the Raiders picks while Reggie McKenzie was GM and those of Mike Mayock (though the 2nd round may have been another story). Mainly because the only 7 Pro Bowls to which Raiders players were named belonged to Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper; both of whom Mayock also would have selected. And as it happens both were traded away last season.

The only difference is Mayock picking Derwin James over Kolton Miller. James was named All Pro as a rookie while Kolton Miller was one of the worst tackles in football. One thing about this team this year is it’s less likely they reach for need because they have needs just about everywhere.

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