There are still three weeks left in the regular season, but for the Raiders it feels like all eyes are already looking ahead to the draft.
There is the matter of the head coach, and it’s possible that Antonio Pierce will be replaced after the season, but it won’t matter who coaches the team next year if the Raiders can’t figure out a viable solution to the quarterback conundrum they have right now.
More than likely, the Raiders are going to fill their void at quarterback in the draft, and the name overwhelmingly linked to Las Vegas to this point has been University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said last week that he believes Sanders would be the Raiders pick if the draft happened today, and many are connecting dots between Sanders and Raiders minority owner Tom Brady.
Sanders and Brady have a relationship that extends beyond the field, and ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky says it’s common knowledge that Sanders wants to play in Las Vegas.
“That feels like the worst kept secret in sports right now, that is that Shedeur Sanders wants to go to the Raiders,” Orlovsky said last week on ESPN’s Get Up.
There have been plenty of mainstream stories on Sanders and the Raiders, but an interesting report came this week from Raiders YouTube host Mitchell Renz, and it might be something to at least keep any eye on as we move closer to the draft.
“I was told by a source that the Raiders want to draft Sanders more than they wanted to draft Jayden Daniels,” Renz said on Chat Sports’ Raiders Report.
“I’m not saying they like Shedeur more from a quarterback prospect than Jayden,” Renz continued. “I’m simply saying that Mark Davis is getting fed up with this quarterback recycle, over and over again, and because the Raiders are going through a season like they are going through right now, and because they missed on a QB last season, it’s more of a demand where they are not going to sit back. They’re not going to let all these other teams pick QBs in front of them.”
“If the Raiders have the no. 1 pick, it’s going to be Shedeur Sanders, you can bet whatever you want on it. It’s going to be Shedeur,” Renz said, before adding what should be considered even bigger news if it turns out to be true.
“If the Raiders [don’t get a high pick], then the attention is going to go to Plan B. I know of a lot of you all think that Plan B is Cam Ward. It’s not. Not that they don’t like Cam Ward, but the Raiders are all in on Shedeur,” Renz continued. “If the Raiders miss out on their Plan A with Shedeur Sanders, the quarterback that they will look to target will be Oregon’s Gabriel. Lock it in, take a screenshot, you can save it, bookmark it, however you want to do it. Remember this video because if the Raiders don’t get Shedeur, they’re going to draft Dillon Gabriel.”
It might sound crazy that the Raiders would be so high on Gabriel, but there have been several reports that the Heisman Trophy nominee has been moving up draft boards in recent weeks.
“I couldn’t find one person that really felt like they were definitive in their rankings of this class, or what they thought of each player, but I will tell you… the Oregon quarterback [Dillon Gabriel] is moving up everybody’s draft boards,” SI’s Hondo Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast last week.
“They think he’s better than the Ole Miss Jaxson Dart, and better than [Carson] Beck and I thought that was interesting. I heard some comments about [Quinn] Ewers at Texas and even heard one NFL executive say they think [Ewers] is a free agent.”
Do what you want with those reports. There will be plenty of time to separate the facts from fiction after the draft.
But if Mark Davis and company are in a position to draft Shedeur, it feels like a foregone conclusion that they are going to do it.
There has been speculation that Deion might pull an “Eli Manning” and try to force Shedeur to the team he wants, but that narrative (that Deion started himself) has been losing steam in recent days. Based on comments from the family this week, it sounds like the Sanders will be happy to play for the Giants if New Yorks ends up with the no. 1 pick.
Then again, it’s only December, so it will be interesting to see what Deion and the family are saying as we get closer to the draft.
x: @raidersbeat
Spare me the Sanders rhetoric. You don’t deserve a platform let alone get paid to squeak on it
Sanders is a head case and a primadonna. He’s lived an entitled life. Ask any Buffalo, and no one can stand being around the guy. WHY not Cam Ward? He has a much stronger arm, quicker delivery, and is quick to go through his routes. Ward is the second coming of Josh Allen. The Raiders are notorious for being the worst when drafting a QB…JaMarcus Russell, Todd Marinovich are two of the biggest all-time flops in NFL history. Sander’s persona reminds me of both of these fools.
Cam Ward is the man. We need to keep losing to get him.
I think Sanders is too immobile. I would trade down a slot or two and grab Kelvin Banks. Then, perhaps pick up Riley Leonard, who is a dual threat QB with good running capabilities. His negatives are coachable and he has a pretty good upswing.
Quoting Mitchel “jets fan tooting my own horn” Renz is just bad for business
What Bangs needs to do is give Brady the keys and get the **** out of the way. Brady knows how to win and keep winning. Facts!!
Just shut up Hondo you only “report” whatever Telesco tells you. Just like b4 when Zeigler was in house. You are nothing more than a puppet for whatever they want you to say. You should be reporting on how Telesco is on the hot seat like AP is, but you only “report” what you’re told. Anybody that doesn’t see value in Josh Jacobs but does see value in G.Minshew should be fired. Just 2 of the terrible moves by this GM whose rosters have produced just 3 playoff teams in 12 years. Fire them both and hire Ben Johnson and whatever GM from a WINNING organization that Johnson wants. Let him chose what QB he wants, I’m assuming S.Sanders would be fine.
It’s seems lately that all the Raiders have is excuse after excuse season after season why we don’t win! Let’s be honest is that the Mark Davis learned NOTHING from one of best football 🏈 minds in the game! AKA AL Davis .
So he has no CLUE who to hire / draft !