The Las Vegas Raiders have a new general manager this year in Tom Telesco so it’s unclear what their offseason plans might be. Quarterback is the team’s biggest need but not picking until No. 13 in the first round will make things difficult.
The main quarterback being linked to the Raiders right now is former LSU standout Jayden Daniels. Head coach Antonio Pierce was the quarterback’s recruiting coordinator at Arizona State and the two have maintained a relationship.
The problem for the Raiders is that Daniels is expected to be a top-three draft pick. The New England Patriots at No. 3 seems like one team that could consider moving down for the right trade. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders are eyeing Daniels and are at least going to consider moving up in the draft.
“That’s a connection. Is it strong enough to move up from 13 overall to three overall to New England’s spot?” Fowler said on the February 25 episode of “SportsCenter,” via Bleacher Report. “That would be tough, but I think it’s on the radar at least.”
The cost move from No. 13 to No. 3 would likely be costly but it’s hard to put a price on a franchise quarterback.
Las Vegas Raiders to Do ‘Plenty of Work’ on QBs
Regardless of whether or not the Raiders are going to be able to move up in the draft, they’re going to do their homework on all of the top quarterbacks in the draft, per The Athletic’s Tashan Reed.
“Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels are widely considered the top three quarterbacks in this class,” Reed wrote in a February 26 column. “The Raiders will do plenty of work on them, but it’ll be difficult for them to draft any of them considering they hold pick No. 13 in the first round. With that in mind, they’ll also need to deeply study J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and the rest of the class.”
Until the Raiders find their franchise quarterback, they will likely be doing a lot of work on any available quarterbacks. This is one of the strongest quarterback classes in years and is expected to be better than next year’s class so this could be the draft to take a big swing.
Jayden Daniels Won’t Throw at NFL Combine
The NFL Scouting Combine is closing in but the Raiders shouldn’t expect to get too much insight into Jayden Daniels. According to a February 25 X post from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Daniels will be at the Combine but will not be throwing.
#LSU QB Jayden Daniels, one of the NFL Draft’s top QBs, plans to throw at his Pro Day rather than the NFL Combine, sources say. He’ll be in Indy for interviews and meetings, but not work out.
Daniels doesn’t have much to gain by throwing at the Combine. He’s already expected to be a top-five pick. That said, it sounds like he won’t be running. One of Daniels’ most impressive traits is his speed. If he were to run a blazing-fast 40-yard dash, it would only help the hype around him. At the same time, if he was slower than expected, that could hurt his stock. For the Raiders, Pierce knows Daniels more than any other head coach in the NFL so they’ll have a leg up when it comes to scouting the quarterback.
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Raiders Considering Attempting ‘Tough’ Draft Day Move: Report