Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter reported the Raiders might “ideally prefer” to trade down from the sixth pick, and one of the teams to watch could be the Dallas Cowboys.
According to Carpenter, Dallas is believed to be targeting a quarterback and may need to move up from the no. 12 pick to get the quarterback they want.
“Word is beginning to circulate because of pro days, interviews, and some other issues, that the Cowboys are definitely looking quarterback. Now, with that said, there are a lot of people, and you can go back and look at my very first mock draft. I had the Raiders trading down from six to 12 with the Cowboys,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“I can tell you this was why I did it in my first mock draft. I had heard the same thing,” Carpenter continued. “So that creates a lot of interest at [pick] six. A lot of things could happen. If Shedeur [Sanders] and Cam [Ward] are gone, and there are teams that are hellbent on getting a quarterback, there could be a lot of people that would want to move up because there’s a lot of bad drafting teams”
“If the Raiders trade with the Cowboys, and the Cowboys go to [pick] six, I totally believe that there is a great opportunity unless somebody trades above the Raiders, that [Ashton] Jeanty falls to [pick]12, and the Raiders would nab him at [pick] 12… or have Omarion Hampton, which there are teams that have him higher on their board.”
From the Raiders standpoint, there has been an incredible amount of buzz around Jeanty in recent weeks.
“There is a contingent of Ashton Jeanty supporters within the organization,” FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz reported on the Raiders last week. “In Marshawn Lynch, Carroll has already had tremendous success with a dominant, physically imposing running back. Perhaps Jeanty will be next. Either way, the Silver and Black — now armed with a two-time Pro Bowler in Smith — believe they’re finally set at quarterback after years of mediocrity at the position.”
With the quarterback position now settled in Las Vegas, the team might be in a better position to draft a wide receiver or running back in the first round if the opportunity presents itself.
Jeanty would be a good value at pick 12 and a wide receiver like Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan could also be an option in the first round.
The Athletic’s Vic Tafur talked last week about the Raiders finding a true ‘x’ receiver between now and next year and he said the buzz at the NFL Combine was that McMillan could slide out of first 10 picks on draft day.
“I think the new regime does not really view Jakobi Meyers as the number one guy. I think that they like him, but I think they clearly want a number one guy, a guy who can make the big plays, stretch the field a little bit,” Tafur said on the Just Win podcast. “I think there are a lot of guys in the draft this year who can do that and there are some guys that are in free agency, so I think that will be a big thing they hit on is number one receiver.”
“If you do want to trade down and get more picks… you hear these things and you don’t know if it’s a buzz or just noise, but you hear all of a sudden Macmillan, the receiver out of Arizona, may be falling a little bit out of the top 10. If that’s the case, you may be able to trade down and get a number one receiver at 12 or 13,” Tafur continued.
“I think [McMillan] is really good and he’s a guy who I think has big playability and definitely, I think he’s just scratched the surface as far as what he can do to get better so that’s a guy I’d be excited about if I could trade down and get Macmillan from Arizona and attack my number one need on offense.”
According to the most trade charts, the 6th pick would be worth at least an additional second-round pick if the Raiders move down to pick 12 or 13.
x: @raidersbeat
Dallas has the 12th pick. If the Raiders target is Mike Green, they should understand he won’t be there at 12 if they’re thinking about trading down to Dallas.
How are we set at QB ? Smith is not the answer !!!!!!! Stop saying we are set !!!!!!! Bald carpenter!!!
Best case scenario trading back. OT OT OG WR RB CB
Take jeanty at 6 case closed he is a generational talent. Jerry can squirm in his booth as jeanty puts up big numbers week after week.