Telesco's History with Franchise QBs Impacts Scouting
Las Vegas Raiders' General Manager Tom Telesco has many years of experience scouting players entering the National Football League.
Whether the players were well known when they entered the league, like Justin Herbert, or were not well known when they entered the league, like Austin Ekeler, Telesco has proven he has an eye for talent.
Telesco has valuable experience finding and drafting productive players in the NFL Draft, especially at quarterback. His history working with franchise quarterbacks has impacted his approach at the NFL Combine.
"I'll say this: the way we've always scouted, we scout every position like our roster is empty," Telesco said. "So, just because we had a quarterback, doesn't mean I didn't look at quarterbacks. I mean, we look at everything. You never know what's going to happen in this league. So, I've seen most of them. It's a pretty deep class."
Telesco has successfully drafted multiple top-tier players at skill positions, including Herbert, Ekeler and Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen.
And Telesco notes how far skill position players have come over the years. This year's NFL Draft is filled with quality skill players for Telesco and the Raiders to choose from.
"The last five or six years, especially skill positions as far as receivers and quarterbacks go, they've been very deep classes, and they've been coming into the league and contributing earlier than they used to," Telesco said.
"I think a lot of it has to do with high school football and summer 7-on-7, the fact that teams throw the ball so much more in high school than they used to, as well as in college.
"So, we're getting players coming to this level, quarterbacks and receivers, who are really pretty skilled. So, I think that's a positive, but I think this year's class is relatively deep. I think next year's class -- it's really early on, but there could be some depth there as well."
The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the No. 13 overall pick.
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