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The 2024 season is not yet over for the Las Vegas Raiders, but let's be honest. It is. The Raiders are 2-10, and they haven't won a game since September 29, when they beat the Cleveland Browns. The Raiders traded away Davante Adams to the New York Jets, signaling that the season was essentially over in mid-October.
They've lost eight straight, and at this point, the Raiders may be best off trying to lose the rest of them as well. Nobody inside the organization will say it, of course. Head coach Antonio Pearce is in his first season as the official head coach of the Raiders (he went 5-4 as the interim head coach in 2023), but he may be fighting for his coaching life. Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, especially with owner Mark Davis pulling the strings.
So Pearce, for one, is going to try to win out, and all of the professional players in the Raiders' locker room will keep fighting, but at the end of the day, there's draft position on the line. The Raiders need to start looking ahead to the 2025 NFL Draft, where they very well may have a chance to re-set things at the quarterback position.
Right now, they hold the No. 2 overall pick behind the 2-10 New York Giants and right ahead of the 2-10 Jacksonville Jaguars. It's going to be a close race to the bottom, but no matter where in the likely Top 5 the Raiders end up, these three players should be on their radar.
Shedeur Sanders to the Raiders in the 2025 NFL Draft
The Raiders have a shot at the No. 1 overall pick, and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is thought of by many as the player who could go No. 1 overall. Sanders is, of course, the son of Deion Sanders, who had a prolific NFL career and has now become a college coach. He has Colorado at 9-3 in his second year in Boulder, and he has a legitimate claim to be college football's Coach of the Year.
Colorado has always seemed like somewhat of a “stepping stone” for both Shedeur and Deion, though, so perhaps the Raiders can pull off a two-for-one and draft Shedeur to be Coach Prime's quarterback in his first foray as an NFL head coach.
As far as the quarterback is concerned, Sheduer is an elite athlete who threw for 3,926 yards and 35 touchdowns compared to just eight interceptions in his second season as Colorado's starter.
He'd have to be refined a bit to be a true NFL quarterback, but he does have incredible potential to be a franchise-changing superstar.
It's worth noting that Coach Prime wouldn't mind if Sheduer ended up on the Raiders, and that's important because he is very opinioned as to where his son ends up.
“Somebody that can handle the quarterback that he is, somebody that can handle, understanding what he's capable of,” Deion said in November while talking about possible landing spots for his quarterback son, according to CBS Sports. “Someone that has had success in the past handling quarterbacks or someone in an organization that understands what they're doing. Not just throwing you out there amongst the wolves if you don't have the support and the infrastructure of the team.”
Alabama QB Jalen Milroe has a high upside for Raiders
There would be a lot to like about Jalen Milroe if the Raiders don't end up with the top pick and Sanders goes somewhere else, potentially New York. Heck, one could even make the case that Milroe is just as intriguing as an NFL Draft prospect for quarterback-hungry teams.
He's not as refined as a quarterback as Sanders, and he doesn't have the superstar power, but he's a big and strong quarterback at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, and he has the type of skill-set that could remind NFL scouts of Jalen Hurts, who at one time also played at Alabama.
Milroe threw for 2,652 yards and 15 touchdowns this season for Alabama, though he did also throw 10 interceptions. On the plus side is his ability as a runner. He rushed for 719 yards and 20 touchdowns for the Crimson Tide during the regular season, and he has all the dual-threat capabilities of a quarterback like Hurts. He may not be as dynamic of a runner as Lamar Jackson, but he can certainly be that type of threat for the Raiders.
Milroe has a big arm and big ability as a runner, and he has a big upside in the right offensive scheme at the NFL level. One gets the sense that his draft stock could be heavily impacted if the Crimson Tide make the College Football Playoffs (they're team No. 11 at the time of this writing) and make a run.
Texas tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. would provide stability for the Raiders
Every team has a need at offensive tackle, and whoever the Raiders end up tabbing as their quarterback for 2025 is going to need as much protection as he can get. That's where Kelvin Banks Jr. out of Texas comes into play. He's a massive left tackle at 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, and he's been a consistent starter at Texas since entering the lineup as a freshman in 2022.
He has big-time experience, having played in NFL-like environments, and Banks Jr. projects to be the type of plug-and-play offensive lineman that smart organizations always look for high in the NFL Draft. He is injured at the moment and questionable for Texas' SEC Championship Game matchup with Georgia, but that doesn't appear to be a long-term concern, and it shouldn't hurt his draft stock.
