If things go south for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024 and neither Gardner Minshew nor Aidan O'Connell establishes themselves as the team's franchise signal-caller, general manager Tom Telesco will be in the market for a quarterback in 2025.
And that's the exact scenario the Raiders face in a recent 2025 mock draft that has the team picking from the No. 5 overall spot and taking Colorado quarterback, Shedeur Sanders.
The mock draft comes from Pro Football Network's Oliver Hodgkinson. Here's what he had to say about the Raiders taking Sanders.
The 2025 quarterback class has already fielded plenty of criticism, and there isn’t yet a consensus over who will head it up next spring. While Georgia’s passer leads the way in the PFN QB rankings, there are NFL scouts who believe Shedeur Sanders — who battled abysmal OL play a year ago — has all the physical tools to be the first signal-caller selected next April.
Not only does Hodgkinson have Sanders going No. 5 overall, he has the Colorado signal-caller as the first quarterback off the board over Georgia's Carson Beck, who went to the New York Giants with the pick following Las Vegas'.
Sanders would be an intriguing addition for multiple reasons. He has an impressive skill set that could translate well to the NFL, and he's one of the most polarizing players in college football, partly because of his father, Deion Sanders, who has no doubt made waves at Colorado. But Sanders has drawn attention to himself, also, and there is no shortage of debate about where he'll end up in next year's draft.
Drafting Sanders would be such a Raiders move. Granted, it might be necessary if the team needs a quarterback and Sanders is the best available when Las Vegas is on the clock, but imagine having Deion around and speaking his mind if things don't go well with his son.
All that said, I'm not sure Las Vegas will be picking that high. The Raiders would have to finish around 5-12 to get there, which is the mark that secured a top-five pick for the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2024 draft. The Giants landed the sixth selection with a 6-11 record.
I tend to believe the Raiders are going to be a middling team, at worst, this coming season, which would put them around eight or nine wins and right around where they ended up in the 2024 draft order, which was out of range for one of the top quarterbacks in the class.
