Raiders Still Have Path to QB Despite Falling Down Draft Order

The Las Vegas Raiders won their second consecutive game on Sunday afternoon, but there is still a chance they can land a quarterback in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Dec 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis talks with Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce before a game against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders won their second consecutive game, defeating the New Orleans Saints, 25-10. 

While the Raiders have been playing better football, this win brings them to four on the year and drops them to the No. 8 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft order, per Tankathon.com. 

This has frustrated Raider Nation, who wanted the team to position itself high enough to select a franchise quarterback. Without a top-five pick, that could be difficult. 

However, the Raiders have one game remaining against the Los Angeles Chargers, who clinched a playoff berth on Saturday. That game should be difficult for the Raiders, and they have a good chance of losing it. That could help them raise back up in the draft order. 

The Raiders are not completely out of the running to land one of the top quarterbacks in the class. The New England Patriots now hold the No. 1 overall pick after the New York Giants’ victory, and they do not need a quarterback after drafting Drake Maye last year. 

If they land the top pick, the Patriots would face an interesting decision: do they stay at the top and select the best player available, who could be Colorado star receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter, or would they trade back for a huge haul? 

The latter could be intriguing for the rebuilding Patriots, and the Raiders could be a perfect match if that is what New England decides.

The Raiders have 11 picks in this draft class. They could part with a few of them and possibly a few from next year’s arsenal. It would take a major haul for the Raiders to move up for the No. 1 pick, but they have the ammunition to make it happen. 

There are only two first-round worthy quarterbacks in this class, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward, and there could be four QB-needy teams in front of Las Vegas: the Tennessee Titans, Giants, Cleveland Browns, and New York Jets. The Raiders would have to leapfrog at least two of those teams. 

These wins come as the Raiders are already eliminated from playoff contention, so for many fans, they only ruin draft position. 

But the Raiders’ chances of landing a franchise quarterback are not eliminated.

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