The Las Vegas Raiders had three picks in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and used them to select a pair of wide receivers in Kentucky’s Lynn Bowden (80th overall) and South Carolina’s Bryan Edwards (81st overall), as well as Clemson safety Tanner Muse (100th overall) after a trade with the New England Patriots.
Bowden will serve as a swiss army knife in Jon Gruden’s offense as he not only played receiver, but returned kicks and punts as well as quarterback. He mostly projects as a receiver in the NFL, although it would not be surprising to see Gruden get creative and move him all over the field to get him the ball in space.
In 13 games for the Wildcats in 2019, Bowden had 30 receptions for 348 yards and one touchdown. Most of his damage came on the ground as a duel-threat quarterback, carrying the ball 185 times for 1,468 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also 403 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and three interceptions.
Edwards is more of a traditional receiver that has a ton of upside. He holds South Carolina career records for catches (234), reception yards (3,045) and consecutive games with a catch (48). He was limited to 10 games his senior season, but had 71 catches for 816 yards and six touchdowns.
At 6’3″, 215 pounds, Edwards gives the Raiders some size at the receiver position that they lack sans Tyrell Williams.
The Raiders originally had the No. 91 pick as their final of the night, but they traded that along with No. 159 to the Patriots for picks 100, 139, 172.
They then took Muse with that No. 100 pick to finish out the night, returning to their Clemson pipeline that they have had so much success with in recent years. In 15 games last season, Muse had 54 total tackles, four interceptions and three passes defensed.
The Raiders signed safety Damarious Randall to a one-year contract this offseason, so Muse will have the opportunity to learn behind him and Johnathan Abram for a year while also contributing on special teams.
Due to the trade with the Patriots, the Raiders will have three picks on the final day of the draft.
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