The ended up selecting nine players in the 2019 , including three first-round picks. Of those nine, four either played at Alabama or Clemson, including two of the aforementioned first-rounders. It started with Clemson's , who was taken with the No. 4 overall pick and up to that point was the biggest surprise of the draft (that lasted until the took quarterback two picks later). "At the end of the day, people act like the thought wouldn't occur to me to trade down and still get Cle," . "He was our guy, OK? And Austin Romine Jersey whether we got him at 4, 8, 10, it didn't matter. He was gonna be our guy. "He's a foundation player," Mayock continued. "And even more importantly, he's a three-down defensive end who can stick his hand in the dirt and play on run downs and pa s downs. He's not a guy who's going to be a designated pa s-rusher. He's in there on every snap. Jorge Posada Jersey And he's gonna set the tone for us, as far as these young guys are concerned. I couldn't wait to get to that pick." Look, NFL Draft Twitter may not have been fond of Ferrell going that high but a) the Raiders to replace , and b) there's nothing to say that Ferrell won't have a better career than, say, , who went to the with the No. 7 pick. Plus, Ferrell went to Clemson. And for Mayock, that proved to be important. Because a week after he was hired, Mayock was at the Reggie Jackson Jersey CFP National Championship Game between Alabama and Clemson and it was there that he got his first in-person glimpse at Ferrell, running back (24th pick), cornerback Travyon Mullen (2nd round) and wide receiver (fifth round). "I felt it on the field before that game, these were the two best college programs in the country and have been for several years now," Mayock recalled. "And when you walk around on the field before the game and watch these guys warm up, and you do your body types, you're taking notes -- they look like two . I said it to somebody, I don't remember who, and I remember thinking to myself, 'Man, if you just draft from these two teams, you're gonna do well, forget the rest of the country.' More from Mayock: "I didn't consciously set out to make that happen. But Sonny Gray Jersey we got more and more impre sed with these Clemson kids, as we met them, as people. We loved the Alabama tailback. And it worked out pretty well from our perspective." On paper, the Raiders filled a lot of needs. It will take several years to truly grade this draft cla s but ultimately, any succe s or failure will come down to how well plays in his second year under Jon Gruden. But with the additions on defense (Ferrell, Mullen and their first-rounder, safety ) and offense (Jacobs, Brian Roberts Jersey , , ) there's no room for excuses. This team limped to four wins last season and had just six the season before. But the Raiders went 12-4 in '16, in part because Carr was an MVP candidate.