The NFL has released the official draft positions today. And the Raiders are slated to select in the #8 slot in the first round.
At 5-11 on the season, the Raiders’ record was tied with Seattle and Cleveland. However, strength of schedule has Oakland below them in the draft order. Although the Raiders lost the head-to-head with Cleveland, strength of schedule trumps head-to-head.
Here is the entire top 20 picks:
1. Rams (1-15)
2. Lions (2-14)
3. Buccaneers (3-13)
4. Redskins (4-12)
5. Chiefs (4-12)
6. Seahawks (5-11)
7. Browns (5-11)
8. Raiders (5-11)
9. Bills (6-10)
10t. Jaguars (7-9)
10t. Broncos, from Bears (7-9)
12. Dolphins (7-9)
13. 49ers (8-8)
14. Seahawks, from Broncos (8-8)
15. Giants (8-8)
16t. 49ers, from Panthers (8-8)
16t. Titans (8-8)
18. Steelers (9-7)
19t. Falcons (9-7)
19t. Texans (9-7)
This year coin tosses will be used to decide between picks 10-11, 16-17 and 19-20 because the teams had the same strength of schedule and no division or conference tie-breakers to apply.
Last year, the Raiders eventual draft position was decided by a coin toss of which they lost to place them at the #7 pick in the first round and alternated in every round thereafter. Even with the loss of the coin toss, there was still quite a few good picks available for the Raiders at #7(and the Raiders chose none of them). I expect the same in this draft.
Picks 21 thru 24 will be the wild-card losers. Picks 25 thru 28 will be the divisional-round losers. Picks 29 thru 30 will be the conference championship losers. Pick 31 will be the Super Bowl loser. Pick 32 will be the Super Bowl winner
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