HENDERSON, Nev. -- The 2024 NFL draft began Thursday night in Detroit and will wrap up on Saturday. The Las Vegas Raiders are scheduled to make eight of the draft's 257 picks, which started with the No. 13 selection of the first round on Thursday night.
ESPN will provide pick-by-pick analysis of each of the Raiders' selections as they are made.
A look at each of Las Vegas' scheduled selections:
Analysis of every pick | Updated depth chart
Round 1, No. 13 overall: Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
My take: What a strange first-round selection, especially considering tight end was addressed last season with the second-round selection of Michael Mayer. Offensive tackle and cornerback were bigger needs. New general manager Tom Telesco must have simply relied on his draft board and gone best player available, especially with Oregon State RT Taliese Fuaga and every single CB still available. In fact, every defensive player was still on the board, and yet ... Bowers was considered a top-10 overall talent and should provide immediate production for an anemic offense.
Key stats: In three seasons at Georgia, Bowers caught a combined 175 passes for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns. Those are receiver numbers. And at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, he's built more like a gliding wideout than a lumbering tight end. Oh yeah, Mayer goes 6-4, 265, so he is now the blocking TE after catching 27 passes for 304 yards and two TDs in 14 games (he missed the last three with an injured foot). Bowers is lauded as the preeminent pass-catching tight end of his class and, well, era, so there is value there. Expect a lot of double-TE sets in the Rob Gronkowski-Aaron Hernandez mold.
Will he start as a rookie? He better. Why else use a first-round pick on him, then? Even as he will have to battle a second-year, second-round draft pick in Mayer, and that's not a wise use of resources. Bowers is obviously more proficient as a pass-catcher and he had 56 receptions for 714 yards and six TDs last season, even as he had surgery on his left ankle in October and returned later in the season. Bowers' pass-catching ability should complement receiver Davante Adams. Receiver was actually a position of need in the Raiders' draft room -- between OT and CB -- so, this checks out, no?.
What's next: The Raiders have the Nos. 44 and 77 selections in the second and third rounds, respectively, and still need to address cornerback and offensive line, as well as quarterback, perhaps. CBs Cooper DeJean and Kool-Aid McKinstry remain on the board as does offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia and guards Christian Haynes and Cooper Beebe. Might the Raiders take a flier on a QB like Spencer Rattler or Joe Milton?
Round 2: No. 44
Round 3: No. 77
Round 4: No. 112
Round 5: No. 148
Round 6: No. 208 (from Kansas City)
Round 7: No. 223 (from New England)
Round 7: No. 229 (from Minnesota)