Getty Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams.
The Las Vegas Raiders had a major need at quarterback last offseason and decided to sign Jimmy Garoppolo to fill it. However, that quickly turned out to be a mistake as Garoppolo was benched halfway through the season.
Things could’ve been much different. The Raiders attempted to trade for the No. 1 pick with the Chicago Bears but the Carolina Panthers ended up winning the bidding way. Had the Raiders been able to get the No. 1 pick, star wide receiver Davante Adams would’ve wanted the team to select former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.
“He may be No. 1, I don’t know,” Adams said when asked about which quarterback he’d like to play with during the January 18 episode of “Two G’s in a Pod. “That was somebody I was campaigning for coming out. … I was not pro-rookie across the board … that was the guy I felt strongly about and he felt the same way.”
Stroud ended up going No. 2 to the Houston Texans and Bryce Young went No. 1. The Panthers would almost certainly re-do that pick as Stroud has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL as a rookie. The Texans went from being the second-worst team in the league last season to winning a playoff game. Stroud threw 23 touchdowns to just five interceptions and there’s an argument that he’s already a top-five quarterback in the NFL.
“That was somebody I was campaigning for coming out”
Davante Adams says he pushed for the Raiders to draft C.J. Stroud 👀
Las Vegas Raiders Preferred Bryce Young
While there’s an idea out there that the Raiders could’ve had C.J. Stroud if they wanted him, that may not be entirely true. Even if the team could’ve traded for the No. 1 pick last year, they wouldn’t have taken Stroud, per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur.
“The Raiders didn’t [trade up] last year for the QB they liked in Bryce Young (and no, going to No. 2 for C.J. Stroud was never an option),” Tafur wrote in a January 18 column.
There was no indication that the Texans were eager to pass on taking a quarterback and trading down with the Raiders. Now, they may have also preferred Young but they were likely taking one of the two regardless. Perhaps if the team actually got the No. 1 pick, Davante Adams and others could’ve convinced the front office that Stroud was the better pick at No. 1 but that’s something nobody can know for sure.
Las Vegas Raiders Will Be Back in the QB Market
Rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell played well this season but he didn’t show enough for the Raiders to trust him to be the starter in 2024. Las Vegas will almost certainly be in the market for quarterbacks again. The team doesn’t pick until No. 13 in the first round so sitting tight and getting a quarterback is unlikely.
The Raiders will either need to add a veteran like Baker Mayfield or Kirk Cousins in free agency or consider trading up in the first round. The team hasn’t hired a general manager yet so it’s unclear what the strategy will be. Interim general manager Champ Kelly has spoken about how important the quarterback position is so if he gets the job, it’s likely that he’ll do whatever he can to solidify the position.