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For the last several months, the Las Vegas Raiders were heavily linked to LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. Antonio Pierce was his recruiting coordinator at Arizona State and cornerback Jack Jones was his teammate.
Jones didn’t hide the fact that he thought Daniels would be a good fit in Las Vegas. However, it’s not going to happen after the Washington Commanders selected the Heisman Trophy winner with the No. 2 pick. Shortly after the news broke, Jones noticed Daniels’ body language and suggested he wasn’t happy with the landing spot.
“I know that look he ain’t wanna go there,” Jones wrote in an April 25 X post.
There were rumors before the draft that Daniels wasn’t particularly keen on playing for Washington. The team is in the midst of a huge rebuild and has been one of the more dysfunctional franchises.
That said, Daniels has come out and said that he’ll play anywhere so there doesn’t appear to be any worry that he’ll cause issues for Washington. Jones wanted his former teammate to play in Las Vegas so he’s likely disappointed to see him end up with the Commanders.
Jayden Wanted to Play for Las Vegas Raiders
The interest in Jayden Daniels wasn’t one-sided for the Raiders. According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the feeling was very much mutual.
“Since the visit [with the Commanders], league sources have said Daniels has told people in his ‘dream world’ he could reunite with Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, who was an assistant coach at Arizona State during Daniels’ time with the Sun Devils, or play under Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota,” Russini wrote in an April 24 column.
Unfortunately for Daniels and the Raiders, players rarely get to go where they want in the NFL Draft. The quarterback wasn’t interested in threatening a holdout if the Commanders drafted him and now he’ll likely be spending his career in Washington.
Will Las Vegas Raiders Add a QB?
Most of the talk surrounding the Raiders’ draft plans involved quarterbacks. By the time the team was on the clock at No. 13, six quarterbacks had already been taken. There weren’t any quarterbacks left on the board who would’ve warranted being selected at No. 13.
At this point, it’s likely that Gardner Minshew or Aidan O’Connell will be the starting quarterback for the Raiders in 2024. However, the team could still add a quarterback later in the draft. Spencer Rattler and Michael Pratt could be options in the second or third round. The Raiders could wait until Day 3 and consider Joe Milton.
None of those project to be elite starts but it’d at least give the Raiders some upside at the position. This was a really bad year for a team picking outside the top-12 to need a quarterback and now it’ll be back to the drawing board in Las Vegas. The Raiders will likely be linked to quarterbacks once again next year but the class projects to be much weaker. The college football season isn’t even close to starting up yet so it’s possible some really good quarterback prospects begin to emerge and the Raiders will likely start doing work on next year’s class soon.
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