A Bold NFL Draft Prediction for the Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders have made multiple moves this offseason to help address most of the holes on the roster. Las Vegas lost several players in free agency but expect their recent additions to help make up for it.

The Raiders have one of the top picks in the NFL Draft, which should land them one of the best players. Their wide array of signings in free agency gives the Raiders flexibility to draft one of multiple positions with the No. 6 pick, instead of being forced to draft a signal-caller.

Sterling Xie of the Pro Football Network recently released bold NFL predictions for every team. Xie believes the Raiders will still select Shedeur Sanders even though they recently traded a third-round pick for quarterback Geno Smith and rewarded him with a sizeable contract extension.

"At the moment, it doesn’t feel likely that Shedeur Sanders will make it out of the top three. The [Cleveland] Browns and New York Giants are both in need of a long-term quarterback solution, with the Browns specifically needing an immediate answer as well," Xie said.

"However, Sanders isn’t a slam dunk for either Cleveland or New York. If those teams opt for the consensus top two talents in Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, the Raiders would be in a position to pounce on the Colorado quarterback and give Sanders some development time behind Geno Smith.

"Sanders’ relationship with part-owner Tom Brady is well-publicized, so it’s hard to imagine any of the other QB-needy teams having better intel on Sanders than the Raiders. Trading for Smith may have been a move to contend now, but letting Sanders develop behind the scenes is Las Vegas’ best bet for long-term competitiveness in a very difficult division," Xie said.

The Raiders entered the offseason with most expecting them to draft a quarterback with the No. 6 pick. However, this is one of recent memory's weakest quarterback draft classes.

After investing a third-round pick and upwards of $90 million, they may not want to invest another draft pick in a quarterback, which is far from a sure bet. While no player entering the league is a sure bet, quarterbacks drafted within the top six picks are usually expected to be surefire.

Quarterbacks are drafted high and fail frequently in the NFL. However, the Raiders cannot afford to take such a significant risk right now, with a struggling running game and Ashton Jeanty likely available at No. 6.

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