The Las Vegas Raiders are entering a new era of football this offseason and will be looking to add some serious talent to their roster. Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock know they have a long road ahead of them, but they remained competitive for a good portion of the 2019 NFL season.
In order to make the leap back into the playoffs, the Raiders are going to need to figure out how to improve their defense.
CBS Sports seems to have an idea of how the Raiders can accomplish that goal. They predicted in their latest mock draft that Las Vegas will make an aggressive trade up in the 2020 NFL Draft to the No. 7 overall pick with the Carolina Panthers to take Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons.
Simmons looks like a special talent, and it’s worth it for the Raiders to sacrifice the 80th overall pick to move from No. 12 to 7 to land him. The Clemson product can be used in a variety of ways, but first and foremost he boosts a weak linebacker corps.
Simmons would be a massive addition for the Raiders. He has the ability to play both linebacker and safety, which could come in handy. The speed he possesses would help him cover sideline to sideline from the linebacker position.
During the 2019 season with Clemson, Simmons racked up 104 tackles to go along with seven sacks, one forced fumble, three interceptions, and eight defended passes. Those numbers show a bit of what he is capable of providing a team.
It will be interesting to see what the Raiders end up doing this offseason. Las Vegas will be a team to watch in 2020. With the right moves, they could make a run at a Wild Card playoff berth.