The Las Vegas Raiders have a lot of questions to answer after this season, with the biggest among them having to do with the quarterback position.
General manager Tom Telesco failed to land a quarterback in last year’s draft, and the team was forced to roll with Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell. Minshew failed miserably as the starter, and O’Connell has been OK but figure to be the long-term solution.
It goes without saying that the Raiders must make a significant addition at the position in 2025, and that will hopefully come in the NFL Draft next April, where the Raiders currently own the No. 1 overall pick, according to Tankathon.
Despite their current positioning in the draft order, FOX Sports’ Rob Rang has the Raiders picking from No. 2 overall in his latest mock draft and has them selecting Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in that spot, with Sanders’ teammate, Travis Hunter, going No. 1 overall to the New York Giants.
“The Raiders and the aforementioned Giants might very well open up the checkbook for pending free agent quarterback Sam Darnold (if Minnesota allows him out of town), but if not, Sanders is the quarterback likely to be the first off the board this year,” Rang wrote. “Sanders’ flashy personality won’t be a fit for everyone, but he is poised and accurate to all levels of the field, specializing in the short to intermediate zones — where the Raiders boast arguably the league’s most exciting duo of tight ends in Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer.”
As supremely talented as Hunter is, there is just no way the Giants pass up on both Cam Ward and Sanders with the No. 1 overall pick to take the other Colorado star.
That’s why it is imperative that Las Vegas finishes the season in the top spot if it wants its pick of the two. Either way, the Raiders should come away with a quarterback if they’re at No. 2.
Linking Sanders to the Raiders goes beyond speculation at this point.
A recent social media post from the Colorado star hinted he wants to play for the Raiders, and owner Mark Davis certainly seems open to it. Even Deion Sanders has given his blessing for his sons to play in Las Vegas.
“That would be nice for [Shedeur & Shilo] to play for the Raiders,” Deion said in July.
Davis has said there is no mandate for the Raiders to select a quarterback, but he acknowledged that the team needs to fix its problem. He also added that Tom Brady “at some point will have something to say in that” as part-owner.
The Raiders desperately need a jolt of excitement to give hope for the future. Both Ward and Sanders would provide that.
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