Raiders NFL Draft Preview: Will Las Vegas Bring In Another Rookie QB?
The NFL Draft is one of my favorite annual sports-related events, so naturally, I’m talking about the lovely sounds and scents of springtime. And sure, I’m talking about a day that, as a fan of the Las Vegas Raiders, has felt like a sharp kick in the crotch on several occasions (thank you, Alex Leatherwood, Damon Arnette, and Clelin Ferrell). Nevertheless, here I am, dreaming brightly about what the 2024 NFL Draft may hold.
The Raiders’ incredible season is a result of a few crucial factors that appear to have gone their way this year: First off, they are selecting at No. 13, which most draft experts believe to be in front of the “blue chip cliff” (translation: most drafts don’t have 32 players with a first-round grade, so at some point in the first round teams are actually left to select guys who are being over-drafted — this year, that number seems to be
somewhere right around the 13-15 range) and not only that but secondly, their team needs are almost perfectly aligned with the strengths of this draft! Las Vegas’s biggest needs are, without a doubt, quarterback, offensive tackle, and cornerback — and this draft has four (ish) first-round quarterbacks, four or five elite offensive tackle prospects and two stud corners. And of those 10ish prospects, at least three or four are expected to be on the board at 13!
In light of this, I’ve wasted far too much time running through mock draft simulators in an attempt to determine what the best course of action would be for head coach Antonio Pierce and incoming general manager Tom Telesco. For the third or fourth quarterback, should they move up? For the fifth quarterback, trade down? At 13, just get the sixth quarterback? Take the corner first, then the tackle? Take aim at a player like as Spencer Rattler, who is typically ranked as the seventh quarterback on most boards, in the third?
As I’ve played each of these out, I realized that the ideal scenario for the Raiders would be to definitively solve two of the three needs I mentioned above. Sure, you can shoot for the moon and try to get all three, but let’s be honest—even solving two feels optimistic for anyone who has been a Raiders fan for a long time.
Keeping this in mind, I played the part of Tom Telesco in yet another mock draft simulation, making the selections I thought would be best for the Raiders by fielding trade calls (both up and down), assessing positional scarcity, etc. To be clear, this is more of a “what I would do if I were in charge” exercise than a mock draft of predictions. With that said, let’s get started.
