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Eagles 2019 NFL draft trade caused new Raiders GM Mike Mayock to panic

“There goes our running back,” Raiders head coach Jon Gruden reportedly told Mayock after the Eagles traded up.

Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis.
Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis.Read moreMichael Conroy / AP

Longtime NFL Network draft analyst and Main Line native Mike Mayock is getting decent grades for his first draft as general manager of the Oakland (soon to be Las Vegas) Raiders. ESPN’s draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. gave the Raiders a solid "B" (the same grade he gave the Eagles), while NFL Network draft analyst Chat Reuter gave the team a “B+.”

After the 2019 NFL draft, Mayock spoke to NBC Sports’ Peter King, and offered a peek into what goes on behind the scenes during draft day, including a mild panic after the Eagles traded up three spots in the first round.

According to King, Mayock and Raiders head coach Jon Gruden had their hearts set on drafting Alabama running back Josh Jacobs, and even had an opportunity to trade up to the No. 16 spot to select him. But Mayock turned it down, convinced Jacobs would still be on the board when the Raiders drafted at No. 25.

Then the Eagles trade up to the No. 22 spot was announced, sending Mayock into a panic.

"THE EAGLES JUMPED US FOR OUR GUY,” Mayock recalled thinking.

“There goes our running back,” Gruden told Mayock, according to King.

But Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther quickly pointed out that the Eagles not only traded ahead of the Raiders, but that they also moved up ahead of the Houston Texans. The Texans were rumored to be interested in Washington State offensive tackle Andre Dillard, whom the Eagles ultimately drafted with their first pick. The Raiders selected Jacobs two picks later.

The Eagles didn’t set out to draft Dillard. But according to my colleague Zach Berman, the team positioned itself to land Jason Peters’ eventual replacement after offensive linemen started to drop following a run on defensive linemen and quarterbacks.

“That wasn’t what we anticipated,” team executive Howie Roseman said. “Our evaluation was this was the best tackle in the draft. Usually, those guys go in the top 10. That’s how we had it rated. When he started to fall, we saw an opportunity to get a top-10 player.”

Mayock was also in the news before the draft over the decision to send the team’s scouts home, a head-scratching move many chalked up to yet another offbeat decision by Gruden. But Mayock told reporters he stood by the decision, after a pattern of leaks from the team’s scouts.

“I made the decision three weeks ago that when the scouts’ work was done in this building, I was gonna send most of them home. I told them, and 45 minutes later it was on Twitter,” Mayock said. “So the decision to send them home, in hindsight, was the right one.”

NFL draft draws record numbers

This year’s NFL draft, which took place in Nashville, Tenn., drew record television ratings, thanks in large part to airing nationally on three networks: ABC, ESPN, and the NFL Network.

According to Nielsen numbers, this year’s draft averaged 6.1 million viewers across all three networks over the three-day event. That’s up from 5.5 million viewers last year, when the draft was broadcast on Fox, ESPN, and the NFL Network.

The NFL said in a statement that the draft drew more than 600,000 fans to downtown Nashville on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, shattering the previous record of 250,000 fans who attended the draft in Philadelphia back in 2017.

Next year’s draft is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas. The Raiders will play their final season in Oakland this year before moving to Sin City to play in a yet-to-be-named domed stadium just off the Las Vegas Strip near Mandalay Bay.