Raiders: 3 Maurice Hurst replacements in 2021 NFL Draft

Some shocking news came across the timeline yesterday, as the Las Vegas Raiders made an interesting release. While cutting Arden Key was not a big shock given his subpar career and underwhelming ceiling, the release of defensive tackle Maurice Hurst came as quite a surprise.

Hurst has been a consistent force of pressure over his three-year tenure with the Raiders, racking up over seven sacks over his first two seasons. In just 11 games this past season, he pressured the quarterback a massive six times and finished with a tremendous PFF grade of 77.9. Needless to say, he will more than likely not clear waivers as he will have plenty of suitors for his services.

Raiders now have another hole to fill

Now just two weeks out from the 2021 NFL Draft, the Raiders have potentially created another need on their already middle-of-the-road roster. They now just have veterans Quinton Jefferson and Jonathan Hankins, along with 2017 draft bust Solomon Thomas on their roster as viable contributors along the interior of their defense.

This is quite the bad year to be in need of a defensive tackle as well, as this year’s crop of interior defensive linemen is lacking (and that is putting it mildly). The Raiders currently hold the 17th overall pick in the draft, but also have holes off the edge opposite of Max Crosby. However, with the Raiders now needing to scrape the barrel for help in the trenches they must do their best.

Here are three options, one option for each day of the draft for the Raiders to consider as they now have to replace Hurst in the defensive trenches.