Analysis: One of the worst draft classes over the last decade. The second draft of the Gruden/Mayock era was immediately ruled a bust less than two years later due to some major legal issues from both their first-round picks.
After a solid start to his second season, during the team’s bye week, Henry Ruggs was drunk driving past 3 a.m. and slammed into a car at 127 mph, killing a 23 year old woman and her dog. He was released immediately and sentenced to three to ten years in prison.
Not a week later, Damon Arnette was released after a video emerged of him with guns and making death threats. He was limited to nine games as a rookie and only played four games due to injury in 2021 after losing the starting job. He eventually caught on with the Dolphins practice squad late in the season, then signed a futures contract with the Chiefs after the season, but was shortly released after he was arrested on assault with a deadly weapon. Several months later he was arrested again for driving with a suspended license and drug possession.
Lynn Bowden, a college quarterback, was traded to the Dolphins before the start of the 2020 season, and has spent time with the Patriots and Saints. Bryan Edwards had a solid first two seasons, but was traded to the Falcons before the 2022 season and has spent time with the Falcons and Saints, but is currently out of a job. Tanner Muse spent his rookie year on IR, then cut before the 2021 season, and has spent time with the Seahawks and Chargers.
John Simpson was the Raiders full-time starting left guard in 2021, but lost his job in 2022 before being released and signed by the Ravens. He was named the starting left guard for the AFC North champs.
The player to survive this class is Amik Robertson, the team’s starting cornerback. He started every game in 2023 and had seen steadily more playing time as his career progressed.
The rebuild the Raiders attempted with Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock failed so poorly. In 2018 they traded stars Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack and acquired two more first round picks in 2019 for them to land Clelin Ferrell, Josh Jacobs, and Johnathan Abram, and another first via Mack in 2020 to get Arnette. Only Jacobs is still with the team, but will be an unrestricted free agent.
After parting with Gruden and Mayock, they attempted another rebuild with Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler from the Patriots, and got fired midway thru the 2023 season. They’re gonna have to try again with Antonio Pierce and former Chargers GM Tom Telesco. But the 2020 draft is yet another example of just absolute failure by that head coach/general manager combo.
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