The Raiders will be looking for a quarterback in next month’s draft, but there’s a good chance they won’t be able to get within striking distance of one of the top four quarterbacks.
Most consider Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy to be the top four quarterback prospects in the draft and there’s a good chance all four will be drafted in the first four picks.
With the 13th pick in the draft, the Raiders will have a difficult time getting one of the top five picks, and that means they will probably have to settle with a quarterback from the next tier on the draft board.
The challenge with the next tier of quarterbacks is that it’s hard to know where to draft them. If the Raiders decide they want Bo Nix, Michael Penix or Spencer Rattler, they might have to be aggressive and that’s exactly what NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has them doing in his latest mock draft.
Jeremiah has quarterbacks being taken with the first four picks in the draft and the Raiders jumping on Penix with the 13th-overall pick. This was his reasoning behind the pick…
“The Raiders signed Gardner Minshew to compete against Aidan O’Connell. However, I don’t think those two quarterbacks have the ceiling that Penix does in the NFL. There’s an assumption that Penix is more of a second-rounder, but I believe his skill set is a unique fit for the Raiders’ style of play.”
At least one media personality doesn’t think Penix would be a great fit for the Raiders, but most would say he is more “NFL ready” than Nix or Rattler.
If the Raiders do like Penix, it’s going to be interesting to see where they try to draft him. Some would say the 13th pick is too soon to take him, but if Penix is the quarterback the Raiders want, they can’t afford to let a team (like maybe the Seahawks) take him later in the first round.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Being an Oregon Ducks fan I’ve followed and like Bo Nix as the pick over Pennix. I’ve wached him closely for his two sterling years at Oregon. He is sturdier, as good with his legs as Pennix, although he may not have the long throwing arm (and perhaps long accuracy) of Pennix. (Michigan’s defense quite dismantled Pennix in the College Championship game). Nix is a good fit-, age wise, personality wise, and college experience wise- with GM and AOC in the Raiders QB room. If they go with Pennix beware of his past ACL injury (two in each knee I beleive?) pattern and especially that he is a left hander, SO they had better have a strong and reliable Right tackle in place to protect Pennix’ blind side. I can’t comment on Rattler too much but he he seems like a comparable to to Nix in his skill sets.