Getty Josh McDaniels with Dave Ziegler.
The Las Vegas Raiders have no shortage of needs heading into the 2023 NFL Draft. With the signing of Jimmy Garoppolo, quarterback isn’t an immediate need but the team does need to think about the future of the position. They will eventually need to find a long-term franchise quarterback but it remains to be seen if they’ll look for one this year.
At the very least, the Raiders are turning over every stone to see if they like one of the quarterbacks from this year’s class. The team recently met with Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson. Las Vegas has taken a few looks at him over the past several months. They clearly have some interest there. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the quarterback impressed the Raiders in the meeting.
“I was told he was in their building in Vegas yesterday. They went and probably had a sensible meal, had a nice dinner with Raiders’ brass,” Fowler said of Richardson on SportsCenter, via Bleacher Report. “They also put him on the big board to work out plays and test his mental approach to the game. I’m told the meeting by all accounts went very well.”
Raiders Won’t ‘Sell out’ for QB
The Raiders appear to like Richardson but they’re also meeting with a number of other quarterbacks. Also, the team is sitting at No. 7, which might put them out of the running to land one of the top quarterbacks. According to Fowler, Las Vegas is very much doing its homework on quarterbacks this year. However, the Raiders will exercise patience and not going to give up too many resources to get one quite yet.
“The Raiders are looking hard at all the quarterbacks, but they have a lot of needs as I was told, so they’re not going to stretch the issue too much and just sell out for a quarterback just yet,” Fowler said. “We’ll see, it’d have to be the right opportunity.”
Garoppolo gives the Raiders time to figure out their long-term plan at quarterback. It appears they are willing to take one this year if the right opportunity presents itself but it’s unlikely they give up a ton of draft picks to move up this year.
Still Unclear Where Richardson Will Get Drafted
Richardson’s projections are all over the place. Some believe he should be the No. 1 pick, others believe he should be a late first-round pick. It’s likely that teams around the NFL are also divided about him. He has the highest ceiling of any player in the draft but may have the lowest floor of all the top quarterbacks. He’s the definition of a boom-or-bust candidate. Fowler is also having a hard time getting a gauge on where Richardson will get selected.
“And so, this is a quarterback who doesn’t know where he’s going to go yet; probably will know closer to the draft. But his stock is surging because a lot of teams I’ve talked to believe he’s in that top tier,” Fowler said. “You see Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, but he’s right there based on that enormous upside.”
There could be a chance that the Raiders will have Richardson available to them at pick No. 7. That would lead to them having a big decision on their hands. It would be interesting to see what they do in that scenario.