One of the biggest wild cards in the 2019 NFL Draft is Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray. Despite being drafted by the Oakland A’s in the first round, Murray has decided to declare for the NFL Draft. The 2018 Heisman Trophy winner is one of the most talented quarterbacks in the entire draft, but where he lands will be the biggest storyline this draft season. In Lance Zierlein’s latest mock draft on NFL.com, Murray ends up back in Oakland as the Raiders use the No.4 pick on the dual-threat quarterback. Take a look at his three picks for the Raiders in the first round: No.4 – QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma No.24 – EDGE Jaylon Ferguson, Louisiana Tech No.27 – TE T.J. Hockensenson, Iowa This is one of the first mock drafts to like Murray to the Raiders. Here is Zierlein’s explanation of the pick: This is not just some click-bait pick. Murray doesn’t have prototypical size. Yeah, I get it. However, when you look at his ability to make winning plays, Murray stands out way above the rest of this year’s QB class. He can be weaved into the offense in 2019 and take over for Derek Carr in a year. If the Raiders believe that Murray will be a franchise quarterback, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for the team to select him and have him learn behind Carr and create competition. We’ve seen this work in Kansas City with Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes, and it brought the best out of both players. Expect Murray to be one of the names the Raiders consider at No.4.<doc-sep>MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Kyler Murray #1 of the Oklahoma Sooners scrambles with the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) It is mock draft season, and with the Raiders holding three first round picks, Kyler Murray is popping up on mocks heading to the Silver and Black. The 2019 NFL Draft is right around the corner, and the Oakland Raiders currently hold three selections in the first round this April. The Raiders come into the draft with a ton of holes along their roster, and have a legitimate opportunity to really improve this roster this offseason. While needs like edge rusher, cornerback, and middle linebacker are immediate, the quarterback position certainly is not. That is why it has become laughable that people are actually putting out mock drafts that have the Silver and Black taking Kyler Murray with one of their three very valuable first round picks. You see, the Raiders already have a quarterback in Derek Carr, and while Murray was a fantastic college quarterback, and could be in the NFL, the Raiders do not need him. Oakland has a player who is only 27-years old at the position, has been the starter for five seasons, and is on the brink of shattering every passing record in team history. Since taking over as a head coach, the narrative has been that Jon Gruden does not like Carr, or is not one of “his guys.” The fact is, Gruden has been nothing but supportive of Carr, as has new general manager Mike Mayock, who lists having a quarterback as one of the Raiders strengths going into the offseason. In his first mock draft at NFL.com, Lance Zierlein not only had the Raiders taking Murray, but selecting him with the No. 4 overall pick. If that was the case, the team would skip over areas of need, like on the edges, where they were historically bad last season. Of course, the Raiders do not have a need for Murray, as my feeling is that Carr is the long-term answer at the position, but most mock drafts are guesses at this point. Having three first rounders will cause media experts to mock plenty of players to the Raiders over the next couple of months, but Murray in the Silver and Black seems like click-bait at this point.<doc-sep>It's Senior Bowl week, which means those players in Mobile, Alabama will have a chance to open the eyes of general managers, coaches and scouts who may have questions about their games. It also means our mock drafts could be changing in the coming weeks. For now, we still have four quarterbacks going in the first round -- though Kyler Murray drops from last week and the Patriots land Tom Brady's replacement. In related news, two teams desperate for franchise passers decide to go in different directions, looking ahead to the stacked 2020 class. Alright, let's get to all the picks. 1. Arizona Cardinals Nick Bosa, DE, Ohio State. On a team chock full of holes, edge rusher isn't at the top of the to-do list. That said, it's hard to pass on a talent like Bosa, who can take over games. There isn't an offensive linemen worth taking this high and the Cardinals find themselves in full-on rebuild mode less than a year after hiring Steve Wilks and drafting Josh Rosen in the first round. 2. San Francisco 49ers Josh Allen, EDGE, Kentucky. Is Josh Allen the best pass rusher in the draft? That will be decided in the coming weeks and months, but no one did more for their draft stock than Allen, who returned to Kentucky for his senior season and went off. After seven sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss in 2017, Allen gained 10-15 pounds of muscle and put up 14 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss and was pretty much unblockable. The 49ers need an edge rusher and Allen is it. 3. New York Jets Quinnen Williams, DL, Alabama. Williams might be the second-best player in this draft, which is why the Jets are taking him even though they have bigger needs at edge rusher and offensive line. He's been one of the most dominant players in college football, and this is after sitting behind Da'Ron Payne (a Redskins first-rounder last spring) in 2017. Ideally the Jets would trade down since they sent their second-round pick to the Colts in the deal that landed them Sam Darnold. 4. Oakland Raiders Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson. Ferrell was one of the stars of the best defensive line in college football, and he finished his junior season with 11.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss. There may be questions about his flexibility compared to the other first-round pass rushers but there's no denying his Clemson production. In fact, on first downs during the 2018 season, Ferrell ranked among the top-10 players in the country in sacks (5), hurries (12), hits (10), knockdowns (5) and pressures (17). 5. Jacksonville Jaguars (via Buccaneers) Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State. The Jaguars get their franchise quarterback, which officially ends the Blake Bortles era in Jacksonville. The only question becomes how long before Haskins, who declared for the draft after a stellar redshirt sophomore season, assumes the starting job full-time. 6. New York Giants Drew Lock, QB, Missouri. We think Kyler Murray is the second-best quarterback in this class but if GM Dave Gettleman is looking for a more conventional option, Lock could be his guy. He has the best arm in this class, is a good deep-ball thrower and is coming off a strong final two months of his college season. 7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (via Jaguars) Greedy Williams, CB, LSU. The Bucs' secondary ranked 30th in pass defense, according to Football Outsiders, and while Williams may not be the most polished cornerback in this draft class, he is insanely athletic and has all the tools to become a great player. 8. Detroit Lions Rashan Gary, DL, Michigan. Gary didn't live up to expectations at Michigan but part of that can be blamed on him playing out of position. Is he an edge rusher? Is he better inside? He was the nation's top recruit coming out of high school and coach Matt Patricia needs a game-changer on his defensive line after a disappointing 2018 campaign. 9. Buffalo Bills Jeffery Simmons, DT, Mississippi State. Kyle Williams is retiring and Simmons was a disruptive interior force last season who often requires double-teams. He has just one sack but he spends games in the backfield, as evidenced by his 15.5 tackles for loss. 10. Denver Broncos Byron Murphy, CB, Washington. Tramaine Brock and Bradley Roby are soon-to-be free agents and Murphy, one of the best cornerbacks in college last season, would pair nicely with Chris Harris Jr. This also means the Broncos are passing on a first-round quarterback, but Case Keenum has one more year left on his deal and the 2020 QB class is going to be stacked. 11. Cincinnati Bengals Devin White, LB, LSU. The Bengals' defense was exposed repeatedly in 2018 and inconsistent linebacker play was a big part of that. Vontaze Burfict, considered one of the most tenacious players in the league just a few years ago, has suffered multiple concussions and his career could be in jeopardy. White is one of the most dynamic players in the draft. He's a sideline-to-sideline thumper who would immediately solidify the middle of the defense, making life easier for both the front four and the secondary. 12. Washington Redskins (via Packers) Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma. Redskins fans are disillusioned with the direction Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen are taking the team but a franchise quarterback -- especially one as exciting as Murray -- could change all that. Seven years ago, Washington traded all the way up to No. 2 to land Robert Griffin III, who had a promising start to his career but it was quickly sidetracked by injuries. Murray, who plays a similar style, would have to avoid that fate. 13. Miami Dolphins Jachai Polite, EDGE, Florida. Polite, who had a breakout season at Florida, has an explosive first step and off-the-chart physical abilities. His knack for getting in the backfield was unrivaled at times this fall. Cameron Wake is 36 and former first-rounder Charles Harris has struggled to stay healthy, which is why Polite makes sense here. 14. Atlanta Falcons Ed Oliver, DT, Houston. Grady Jarrett was a beast this season but he could use some help along the defensive line, and Oliver, considered a top-5 pick during the college season, would be a steal here. There are questions about his size, and whether he can hold up over a 16-game season, but he's consistently disruptive in both the run and pass game. 15. Green Bay Packers (via Redskins) Deionte Thompson, S, Alabama. The Packers traded away Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and 35-year-old cornerback Tramon Williams ended the season at free safety. Thompson's the best safety in this class and with depth at pass rusher, Green Bay gets their centerfielder here. 16. Carolina Panthers Brian Burns, EDGE, Florida State. Julius Peppers is 38 and headed for free agency; Mario Addison is 31 and has just one year left on his deal. Ferrell, meanwhile, plays on the best defensive line in college football and could end up being a top-10 pick. Burns is a long, lean, explosive pass rusher. At 235-240 pounds, the concern is whether he's strong enough to play the position at the next level, but Burns isn't just a speed rusher; he's also strong, and has the frame to get stronger. 17. Cleveland Browns Jonah Williams, OT, Alabama. The Browns are going to be the preseason favorites in the AFC North and having Williams anchor the left tackle position only confirms this further. There's some discussion about whether he'll have to kick inside to guard but he was dominant at Alabama last season. 18. Minnesota Vikings Dalton Risner, OT, Kansas St. Same as last week -- but is it too early for the Vikings to look for a quarterback? That was rhetorical, mostly because Kirk Cousins is one year into a three-year, $84 million -- all guaranteed -- deal. And since Cousins isn't going anywhere, Minnesota has to do a better job of protecting him. Risner was a tackle in college but could kick inside at the next level where he will be a Day 1 starter. 19. Tennessee Titans D.K. Metcalf, WR, Ole Miss.<doc-sep>
MOBILE, Ala. — Kyler Murray may not be at the Senior Bowl this week, but the idea of Kyler Murray as lightning rod draft prospect has most definitely made roll call. Jon Gruden made sure of it. The Oakland Raiders coach rarely disappoints when he talks about quarterbacks. He once again made good on that reputation when he made an off-the-cuff remark Tuesday about having to reassess his “prototype” size for NFL quarterbacks – at least partially because of what Murray did at Oklahoma in 2018. In what is shaping up to be the dominant quarterback discussion in this draft cycle, Gruden echoed a reality check that now faces a few quarterback-needy NFL teams in this draft. With a 6-foot Drew Brees putting passing records into another galaxy, and a 6-foot Baker Mayfield taking the league by storm, and a 5-10 Russell Wilson representing a bad draft miss by so many franchises, is it time to redraw the silhouette of the league’s quarterback archetype? More specifically with Murray – who will measure under 5-10 at next month’s NFL scouting combine – are teams too obsessed with “prototype” height at the position? Kyler Murray has Jon Gruden’s attention, even though the Oklahoma QB isn’t at the Senior Bowl, where Gruden is this week evaluating prospects for the 2019 NFL draft. (AP) “I used to think that a lot until I saw Drew Brees twice a year in Tampa, then I met Russell Wilson coming out of N.C. State, and now I’m watching this kid Murray at Oklahoma,” Gruden said. “I’m putting away all the prototypes that I once had. I used to have a prototype for hand size, height, arm length, all that stuff. We’re looking for guys that can play and do a lot of different things. They come in all shapes and sizes nowadays.” That was no throwaway comment. Not with Gruden and the Raiders coaching the Senior Bowl’s North team, which features Duke’s Daniel Jones, who has (thus far) drawn the most praise from personnel men in the early going this week. If you created a quarterback in a laboratory and were insisting on checking off the measurables, Jones would be what came out of the process. He measured in at 6-5 and 220 pounds, with long arms and big hands. The kind of numbers that draw eyeballs on a practice field and become the fodder for the first-round pick conversation that will follow Jones for the next few months. Story continues But having the quarterback conversation with a handful of talent evaluators at the Senior Bowl this week, two basic realities haven’t changed. First, it’s going to be considered a middling quarterback draft, with draft position largely driven by need rather than talent. Second, Murray is an absolute wild card who is fast becoming the most intriguing evaluation of the entire NFL draft. As one AFC personnel man said of Murray this week, “It’s going to come down to a consensus on a staff and whether you’re willing to create a special category for him. We didn’t do that for [Russell Wilson] and we probably should have. We had A’s across the board on [Wilson] except for his size. But that height really pushed us off him even though we had a great report on him. One of the best that year of any kid. … Pretty much everyone was in that same boat on him. [5-foot-10] at quarterback just wasn’t happening when we went around the room.” Right now, the “special category” conversation is the undercurrent on seemingly every personnel evaluation shared on Murray. Is he special enough to smash the accepted norms at the position? If he’s in the category that Gruden mentioned – somewhere on the Brees/Wilson continuum – then the answer is likely going to be yes for some franchise. But as a second AFC personnel man noted this week, Murray’s evaluation is likely an even more aggressive reach than other “small stature” quarterbacks. “Drew played a lot of games [at Purdue],” he said. “Russell Wilson played a lot of games in college. Baker [Mayfield] played a lot of games. The tape for Murray is just so much smaller – maybe good and bad. What does he look like year over year? How much growth is there? He might be at his ceiling right now or he might be an even better player than he is right now. Do we even know what a ceiling looks like for a player like him?