Round 4, Pick 111: S Reggie Floyd, Virginia Tech
Unless Guenther plans to move Lamarcus Joyner to safety, the defense needs a deep cover man at the position. According to Sports Info Solutions (via Silver and Black Pride’s Cyril Penn), the Raiders lined up in Cover 1 (28.9) and Cover 3 (25.1) alignments for a majority of defensive snaps through Week 10. The former is a man-coverage scheme, and the latter employs a zone defense.
That’s important to know because both coverages utilize a deep safety, who patrols the middle of the field. Ideally, that player has range with the ability to read the quarterback and track the football. At times, Erik Harris flashed in that role. He finished the 2019 campaign with eight pass breakups, three interceptions—two returned for touchdowns.
In 2020, Johnathan Abram should be fully recovered from a torn labrum but deep range isn’t his strong suit. The Raiders may want a more athletic defender than Harris in that role. After struggling in coverage this past season, Curtis Riley isn’t a solid option on the back end.
Reggie Floyd can wear multiple hats on the pro level. He’s 6’0″, 222 pounds with a wealth of athleticism in addition to the prototypical size for a safety. The Virginia Tech product will go after the football, indicated in his collegiate production, five interceptions and 10 pass breakups over the last three terms.
Floyd isn’t shy about helping out in run defense and laying a hit on a running back in the box. As a junior, he recorded 9.5 tackles for loss. The Raiders could even use him as a small linebacker in the nickel because of his physical nature.
If Guenther can creatively use Floyd’s skill set, the Raiders would have a deep safety with great reach, a sound tackler in the box and a hybrid linebacker-safety rolled into one player.
Round 5, Pick 141: WR Tyler Johnson, Minnesota
Tyler Johnson fell to the fifth round, which is a bit of a surprise, but with a deep wide receiver class and his decision to skip the Shrine Game, we could see the Minnesota product on the board in the later rounds.
Remember, every appearance is essentially a job interview for incoming prospects. For better or worse, Johnson forfeited an opportunity to showcase his talent. He didn’t receive an invite to the Senior Bowl, which isn’t a good sign going into the evaluation process:
Secondly, the 6’2″, 205-pound wideout isn’t a burner and a 4.5-second 40-yard dash time may hurt his draft stock.
If Johnson drops in the draft, the Raiders should certainly pounce on him—even if he’s available in the fourth round.
Look at a few of today’s top wide receivers, Michael Thomas, Mike Evans and Davante Adams don’t have top-gear straight-line speed. We have to move away from the allure of the 40-yard track guy at wideout and focus on reliable pass-catchers. That sounds basic, but we’re often enamored with speed over a set of good hands.
Since 2018, Johnson has recorded 2,487 yards and 25 touchdowns. He’s not going to beat defenders in a foot race down the sideline, but the talented pass-catcher will battle for every target and often wins on those plays. Furthermore, his route-running has improved over time.
With Lamb in the first round and Johnson late in the draft, Carr would have a stacked group at wide receiver.