Jon Gruden didn’t draft Derwin James because the Raiders had 2 much worse safeties. Wait, what?

The Oakland Raiders have reason to feel optimistic about their first-round pick Kolton Miller. The offensive tackle hasn’t missed a snap so far in 2018, and while he hasn’t been an elite left tackle right out of the gates, he’s shown the upside and potential that made him the No. 15 overall pick in the first place.

But according to Raiders coach Jon Gruden, Miller wouldn’t have been the Raiders’ pick if their depth chart looked a little different in April.

With a Week 5 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers next up on the schedule for the Raiders, Gruden said their upcoming opponent’s rookie safety Derwin James was almost Oakland’s pick instead:

Hold up ... what? Let’s break this down:

1. It’s not uncommon for coaches to compliment opposing players. They get asked about them by reporters and, rather than stir up drama, the coach usually says something about how the player is a talented playmaker who they’ll have to watch out for. You know the drill.

What is uncommon is for a coach to say they would’ve preferred to take that player over the guy they picked. Is there any other way to interpret that quote? Gruden wanted James, but for Raiders reasons, they opted to take Miller instead. What a ringing endorsement for your first-round pick.

2. You didn’t pick James, because of THOSE guys? Picking a safety in the top two rounds three years in a row isn’t smart, but you know what’s worse? Picking bad safeties in the top two rounds two years in a row.

Karl Joseph is now in his third NFL season and he isn’t in the Raiders’ starting lineup. He’s seen 11 total snaps with Reggie Nelson and Marcus Gilchrist ahead of him on the depth chart, despite neither Nelson nor Gilchrist playing all that well.

Obi Melifonwu is an even less inspiring pick who played in five games as a rookie. After suffering a hip injury in August, he was waived by the Raiders just 16 months after he was taken No. 56 overall. No team put in a claim for Melifonwu, so he reverted to the Raiders’ injured reserve where he’ll sit for the rest of 2018.

Those are the two draft picks that apparently dissuaded Gruden and the Raiders from picking a player. Self-scouting and an understanding of sunk costs are important skills for an NFL team, and it would seem the Raiders are lacking.

3. The Raiders could really use a Derwin James. Four weeks into the season, the Raiders have allowed the second-most points in the NFL. They have a lot more problems than just the safety position — particularly the fact that Oakland is tied for last in sacks with only five, in no small part because they traded away Khalil Mack before the season began.

James could’ve actually helped with that. Just a month into his career, the Chargers may already have the best blitzing safety in the NFL in James.

No NFL safety has finished with more than five sacks in a year since Roman Harper had 7.5 during the 2011 season. James already has three in four games, and that doesn’t include this hit that forced a game-clinching interception in Week 4:

On top of his pass rushing skills, James has an interception and six passes defensed — just one behind the Raiders’ Rashaan Melvin, who leads the league with seven.

With James, the Chargers have the early frontrunner for Defensive Rookie of the Year. As long as Miller continues to play well, the Raiders can feel okay about how the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft played out. But Gruden — who has a propensity for laughable quotes — gave some shaky logic for passing on James.