KC Chiefs: Grading AFC West 2020 NFL Draft first round picks

• With the 12th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders select Henry Ruggs III – Wiide Receiver, Alabama.
• With the 19th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders select Damon Arnette – Cornerback, Ohio State

I make a lot of Jon Gruden jokes and he kind of lends himself to it, but even for Gruden this was a no brainer. All of us know how the Antonio Brown experiment worked out, so the Raiders taking a wide receiver was all but a certainty, it was just a matter of which one.

Ruggs III was one of the top rated, if not the top rated receiver in this draft, so he is the obvious choice for the Raiders. If the Raiders hope to beat the Chiefs, they are going to have to add some speed and a dangerous target with the drafting of Ruggs seems to be their answer, now they just have to see who will be throwing him the ball?

As for cornerback Damon Arnette, now this seems more like a Gruden move. Frankly there isn’t much to say, but I detected some surprise, not that the Raiders would draft a corner, but that Arnette was the choice here.

That being said, cornerback was most certainly a need, and both of these picks seem to be rather reactionary, meaning the Raiders believe that a speedy wide out and a cornerback is what is needed if they hope to dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.

Frankly I don’t see a ton of value in drafting Damon Arnet so early, but they did draft a position that was in need of addressing and Henry Rugs is a steller pick. For Ruggs alone, I give the Raiders an A.