A day after taking a first-round talent whose stock plummeted, the Raiders have repeated the practice. And it took another trade to do so.
Per Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area (on Twitter), Oakland surrendered its Nos. 159 and 185 overall selections to trade into Indianapolis’ No. 140 slot, where Maurice Hurst Jr. became the pick.
The Michigan interior pass rusher was viewed as one of the top interior defensive linemen in the draft, but heart issues caused him to fall to this juncture of the draft. Hurst will join Arden Key as defensive linemen heading to Oakland. Jon Gruden‘s team is ready to gamble on some boom-or-bust talent in hopes of creating a better supporting cast for Khalil Mack, whose team has lacked such a contingent for a while now.
Hurst was given clearance from his heart condition, one that emerged at the Combine, recently. But teams still stayed away until Day 3. Nevertheless, the Michigan defensive tackle combined to register 24.5 tackles for loss over the past two seasons, and the Raiders have struggled to generate interior pressure for years now. Top inside rusher Mario Edwards is entering a contract year as well.