The Raiders aren’t necessarily in a position of strength with the no. 6 pick in the draft but depending on how the first five picks play out, they might be pleasantly surprised by who they have the opportunity to draft.
Last year, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers fell to the 13th pick and according to Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter, former GM Dave Ziegler played out “hundreds” of mock drafts and not once did Bowers fall to the 13th pick.
This year, there appears to be only a few “can’t miss” prospects at the top of the draft, but it’s possible that one could fall to the Raiders if quarterbacks go off the board ahead of schedule.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few draft rumors picking up steam as we head into April.
Cam Ward will most likely be the No. 1 Pick in the Draft
Whether it’s the Tennessee Titans or someone else, the consensus seems to be that Ward will the first player taken in the draft.
While Shedeur Sanders has watched his draft stock take a hit in recent months, Ward has become the heavy favorite to be the first quarterback taken in the draft.
Ward isn’t going to slide on draft day.
But where will the next quarterback be taken?
There are a lot of signs pointing to the New York Giants settling on Sanders with the no. 3 pick if the Cleveland Browns don’t take him at no. 2.
More than likely, the Browns will take Penn State’s Abdul Carter with the no. 2 pick and ESPN’s Matt Miller is hearing Sanders to the Giants is the “worst-kept secret” in the league right now.
“I’m hearing [the Giants want] a quarterback, even after signing Russell Wilson to a one-year deal,” Miller reported in an insider piece last week.
“A scout told me, ‘New York loving Shedeur is the worst-kept secret in the league right now.’ According to that scout, the Giants had a presence at every Colorado home game this season. The Wilson and Jameis Winston deals shouldn’t prevent the Giants from drafting a quarterback at No. 3 if one of the top two passers is available. But should Ward and Sanders both be off the board, the Giants will be a premier destination for Colorado’s Travis Hunter, given the team’s needs at wide receiver and cornerback.”
It also sounds like Sanders is convinced he is going to New York.
If Ward, Carter and Sanders are the first three players drafted…
Where would that scenario leave the Raiders?
The top players left on the board would presumably be Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty, Mason Graham, Jalon Walker and Armand Membou.
Most would consider Graham and Hunter to be good value picks at no. 6, and some believe Jeanty is going to the NFL’s next elite running back if he is drafted into a good situation.
Hunter and Graham probably wouldn’t be available if the Raiders trade down from the no. 6 pick, but Jeanty, Walker and Membou might still be options if the Raiders don’t slide too far in the draft.
Could Mississippi QB Jaxson Dart factor into the first 10 picks?
It’s possible, but the hype around Dart feels similar to all the chatter around Will Levis in 2023.
Dart has the physical tools to be a good quarterback in the NFL, but he made a lot of bad decisions in college and his game film was too inconsistent to be excited about in the first round.
Maybe someone will roll the dice on Dart in the first round, but Alabama’s Jalen Milroe might be the sneaky pick to be the third quarterback taken in the draft.
Every indication is that Milroe blew away teams in the interview process at the Combine and he has the athletic ability that NFL teams are beginning to covet at the quarterback position.
“There were a lot of people that were pleasantly surprised at him. Very pleasantly surprised by him,” Carpenter said of Milroe on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast in March. “His answers were tremendous. His knowledge was extremely impressive. I want to be careful how I word this next one. I think the change in coaching maybe hurt him a little bit with Alabama. I’ll just leave it there.”
“One of the teams asked Jalen Milroe a series of questions about what he was really good at,” Hondo continued. “And then they said they asked him what he could get better at, and his answer was, ‘How much time do you have?’ And the guy goes, we’re sitting there interviewing Jalen Milroe, and he’s telling us all the areas that he’s working on right now.”
“To which this team said to him, ‘Are you not concerned pointing out those things to us would concern us?’ He basically said to them, I wasn’t in the room, but basically said, ‘You should be concerned with any guy that comes in this room, who hasn’t played a down of NFL football and doesn’t tell you that he has weaknesses or that he isn’t working on them. Plus, it’s an insult because that means he doesn’t think you know how to watch film.’”
Which quarterback will the Raiders end up drafting?
The Raiders probably have Ohio State’s Will Howard as high on their draft board as anyone in the league.
With Chip Kelly now the offensive coordinator in Las Vegas, no NFL team has a better connection to Howard than the Raiders.
Ohio State’s championship run boosted Howard’s stock tremendously and it’s hard to imagine the Raiders wouldn’t consider him a great value in the third round.
x: @raidersbeat
#6=AJ. 👍👌🙌🥂🥂🥂
You dont choose a QB in the draft because he played for someone in college. By the time that guy could play Chip Kelly could be gone. I like Milroe as a short term project.
The top player left in the board at #6 is Mike Green.
Best Edge prospect in the draft, he’s better than Abdul Carter and led the nation in sacks.
Take Green.
Best scenario would be to drop to say #12 then draft Green. I would rather have that than to draft Jeanty at #6, especially with this being a strong RB draft. If Koonce pans out and they sign him to an extension, Green, Koonce, and Wilson would form
a strong unit. That would open up trading Crosby for some high picks, plus give salary cap relief. The pass rush was very effective when Crosby was out late last season.
Green won’t be there at 12 OakTown.
Get him at 6 and fill in the rest after the 1st round.
Koonce is not reliable coming off a catastrophic injury he’s an unknown at this point and Tyree Wilson is a total bust.
After Maxx, we have no depth at the Edge.
We need Green.
I see your point Philly, but my take is based on Koonce regaining his form and being resigned. Plus Wilson played pretty well when Crosby was out. He does pressure the passer just doesn’t get that many sacks, plus he plays the run well. We’ll see about Green bc most mocks have him not getting selected until after the 12 pick, but we’ll see what happens. I’m just not sold on Jeanty being worth the #6 pick.
Yes, strong running back class. But there’s Jeanty and everyone else. Why settle for good when you can have great? It’s a strong Dline class too. Why not use your same logic? Why don’t we just trade down to the 7th round? smdh
So the Giants supposedly “love” Sanders, but are willing to risk someone trading up for the #2 pick and thus stealing their franchise QB? Their actions don’t indicate that they are so infatuated with him to risk losing him.
Please Raiders don’t draft Milroe! It would be another case of Anthony Richardson, can’t throw and can only run the ball.
He will be a project, no doubt. But, he may be worth a 5th rd. or later pick. He does have the athleticism needed in today’s NFL, plus he has a strong arm. The game had changed from pure pocket passers.
We have AOC to develop already and have roster spots on the 53 to fill. Don’t waste the draft capital.
Tom Brady had a CATASTROPHIC injury and came back and won another SB. How about that! Koonce will surprise all.
Trade back to say 11,14 get some valuable picks and draft Jaxson Dart, take the 2nd pick, get best player on the board to fill a hole then RB Dylan Sampson out of Tenn, then build the Defense, DBs out of Kansas