Temple Football: Rock Ya-Sin heads to Oakland in CBS Mock Draft

If CBS’ 2019 NFL Mock Draft holds true, it looks like Rock Ya-Sin will be representing Temple football in Oakland as the 24th overall pick in the first round.

After largely being excluded from the 2018 NFL Draft, it looks like the Temple Owls‘ football program could once again hear one of their players names called in the first round this year, at least according to CBS’ most recent Mock Draft.

That’s right, if CBS’s most recent Mock, published on April 19th is of any indication, Rock Ya-Sin, Temple’s star outside cornerback, is heading to Oakland as the third first-round pick of the Raiders.

And if that’s the case, should we really be surprised? I mean writer Cody Benjamin even broke it down in the body of the article:

"Mayock is unmoved by the Chiefs taking Williams off the board, instead filling Oakland’s CB need with a more gritty, well-rounded prospect that happens to share a Philadelphia connection with the Raiders GM after coming out of Temple."

Makes sense, right?

For those unfamiliar with the inner workings of the Raiders, which is most people when you consider that the team just dismissed their entire scouting department, the team’s current GM is ex-NFL Network draft expert and Philly native Mike Mayock. Though he played his college ball at Boston College, Mayock has long been a champion of all things Philadelphia football, from calling Eagles preseason games, to giving special attention to ‘Temple Tuff’ players deserving of some extra love during the pre-draft process; Mike Mayock loves the City of Brotherly Love.

It is fitting that he’d select one of these players in his first go-round as an NFL general manager.

While the Raiders aren’t exactly desperate for cornerback help at the moment, as they did select Gareon Conley 24th overall in the 2017 draft, the team wasn’t particularly good against the pass last year; giving up an average of 240.8 yards through the air last season (14th best), while surrendering an average of 29.2 points a game (the worst mark in the league).

Could Ya-Sin turn that around as a rookie single-handedly? Probably not, but he is a big, fast, and strong outside cornerback with uber high potential who could immediately compete for a starting spot with the team, if not win one right out the gate. Not bad for a player who wasn’t even signed on to play at a Division 1 school until this time last year.