Did you hear it? Could you feel it?
Moments before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced the Raiders’ first-round selection Thursday night, a dull roar crested into cheers and, yes shrieks, deep in the heart of the Raiders’ facility.
The Raiders had their man.
And the excitement wasn’t just at team headquarters.
Because after Goodell announced Ashton Jeanty coming to Las Vegas at No. 6 overall, the Raiders hitting that hard-to-find intersection of need and best player available also sent equal waves of relief and joy throughout Raider Nation.
They didn’t overthink it.
They made the sensible pick.
Of course, a million times of course, you can’t truly judge a draft for a couple of seasons. But logic goes out the window on draft night in favor of knee-jerk reaction and emotion, yes?
It was a vibe. And then some. A Silver and Black-coated feel-good vibe that enveloped a fan base waiting in joyful hope for some good news on, you got it, draft night.
Indeed, for the first time in recent memory, sentiment among Raiders fans was in near total agreement – their favorite team absolutely nailed their first pick of a draft.
You’d have to go back to 2014 and the Raiders’ selection of Khalil Mack at No. 5 that year to find a similar mood among the fan base.
That’s not a dig on Amari Cooper.
Not a slam on Karl Joseph.
Not a shot at Gareon Conley, Kolton Miller, Clelin Ferrell, Alex Leatherwood, Dylan Parham or Tyree Wilson.
Certainly not Brock Bowers.
Hey, Miller has been a foundational left tackle and Bowers was a transcendent first-team All-Pro tight end as a rookie last season.
But not since the popular Mack was drafted has a fan base been so united in their glee over a first-round pick.
And you’d have to go back to 2008 and Darren McFadden to find a similar joyful reaction in unison for an offensive player taken with the first pick of a Raiders draft.
In fact, Jeanty is only the fifth running back drafted by the Raiders in the first round since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, along with Hall of Famer Marcus Allen (1982), Napoleon Kaufman (1995), McFadden and Josh Jacobs (2019).
“I’m super, super duper excited,” Jeanty said in Green Bay. “Ecstatic.”
