The Las Vegas Raiders missed out on all the quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft, so they’ll go into the season with Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew under center. So, it stands to reason they will be looking for a QB again next season, and in ESPN’s 2025 mock NFL Draft, Las Vegas makes a big move, trading up to select Colorado football signal-caller Shedeur Sanders.
In Jordan Reid’s 2025 mock NFL Draft on ESPN, the Tennessee Titans pick at No. 5 and the Raiders start with the No. 10 selection. Reid has Vegas trading up, though, and taking the second QB off the board (after Georgia’s Carson Beck at No. 1), Shedeur Sanders.
“With Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers on offense, the Raiders can set up a young passer really well. And Sanders is a smooth operator whose game centers on his great ball placement (69.3% completion rate last season, eighth in the FBS) and calm demeanor when protected in the pocket,” Reid writes. “He took 52 sacks in 2023 behind a struggling offensive line, so Sanders' internal clock must speed up before he gets to the next level; he tends to compound mistakes by holding on to the ball too long. But he has a ton of talent and can certainly be the answer for Las Vegas. I see a lot of similarities to Geno Smith in his game.”
As Reid notes, Sanders still has a lot of flaws in his game, but with his natural talent and NFL bloodlines as the son of Hall of Famer and Colorado football coach Deion Sanders, there is a good chance Shedeur goes near the top of next year’s draft.
Deion only wants Sheduer Sanders to go to certain NFL teams
If Sheduer Sanders is indeed a top prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft, things are going to get interesting. Deion Sanders has already said that he only wants to play for certain NFL teams, referencing Archie Manning steering his son, Eli Manning, to the New York Giants in the 2004 NFL Draft after spurning the San Diego Chargers.
So, are the Raiders one of the teams Deion will allow Shedeur to go to?
Coach Prime didn’t mention specific teams in his veiled threat, but the Raiders are a franchise with a lot of history in a glitzy city with a former NFL player, Antonio Pierce, as a head coach, and they have some top talent on offense with Adams and Bowers as well as a good offensive line.
Yes, owner Mark Davis is one of the more unpredictable owners in the league right now, but with all those other factors in place, Deion Sanders would likely welcome his son moving to Sin City.
Quarterbacks in the mock 2025 NFL Draft
The 2024 NFL Draft was a wild one, with six quarterbacks coming off the board in the first 2 picks. The 2025 NFL Draft doesn’t seem like it will be as top-heavy.
As of May 2024, there are X first-round signal-callers in Reid’s mock. These players are Georgia’s Carson Beck (No. 1 to the New York Giants), Sheduer Sanders, and Texas’ Quinn Ewers (No. 12 to the Pittsburgh Steelers).
That said, at this time last year, JJ McCarthy and Bo Nix weren’t thought of as first-round talents, and Jayden Daniels wasn’t on anyone's first-round radar.
If there are QBs who make similar jumps after excellent college seasons in 2024, keep an eye on former Duke transfer and Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard and Miami’s Cameron Ward.
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