Pete Carroll, Raiders Have Multitude of Non-QB Options in Draft

The Las Vegas Raiders have a coach and a general manager.

With the right pieces in place and minority owner Tom Brady guiding things with a sure hand and plenty of experience, Carroll, Spytek, and the rest of the Raiders player personnel can begin to piece together their vision for the 2025 NFL Draft.

The quarterback position is a dark cloud hanging over the Silver and Black. Aidan O'Connell has looked reasonably serviceable despite instability from head coach to coordinator in his two seasons of sporadic play. There are a lot of question marks however and the chances he pans out as a franchise quarterback are thin right now.

Quarterback production might just be the greatest predictor of success in the modern NFL and most will agree that the best way to find that production, long-term, is the draft.

Herein lies the issue: the 2025 quarterback class is shaky at best. Miami Hurricanes star Cam Ward is agreed upon by the vast majority as the best prospect. That being said, reputable evaluators say he wouldn't even be in the top-3 of the stacked 2024 quarterback class.

Colorado's Shedeur Sanders might be as polarizing as they come, and he has a lot of red flags on the field, by all accounts. Those are the two top prospects. The rest? Ole Miss's Jaxson Dart has reportedly garnered attention from some teams around the league as a late-first, early-second-round choice.

Overall, not a lot of confidence in this class. While Carroll has a track record as a quarterback whisperer -- he developed Russell Wilson in Seattle to become a future Hall of Famer and Geno Smith was one of the position's better reclamation projects we've seen years, the Raiders will likely avoid any sort of risk in Year 1 of the Carroll-Spytek-Brady triumvirate.

While there are questions abound regarding quarterbacks, the draft is loaded with highly-touted non-QB talent.

This makes things relatively easy for the Raiders; they can grab a free agent signal caller (some are ready to see Wilson in the Silver and Black while others consider Minnesota's Sam Darnold a viable option), or avoid getting a new quarterback altogether and ride things out with O'Connell, who would benefit from organizational stability for the first time.

So, if the Raiders want to build a strong foundation with non-QB talent like they did in 2024, when they took a generational talent in tight end Brock Bowers, who are some potential targets?

While it is highly unlikely that Colorado Heisman Trophy winner and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter falls to the Raiders at sixth overall, he must be included in any conversation about non-QB studs. There is talk he will play both ways at the NFL level, which is unheard of.

It is doubtful that the Raiders would make a move up for Hunter, though nothing is impossible.

Sticking with pass catchers, the Silver and Black could very well make a move to add to their arsenal. Bowers was a home run draft pick, a walk-in star who turned in an All-Pro first season and if not for the existence of Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, he has as good a case as any for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

The Bowers pick could very well inspire the Raiders to look for another weapon to pair with him. By all accounts, Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan seems to be the weapon. After 84 receptions for 1,319 yard and eight touchdowns in 2024, he has ascended to the top of the list of best receivers in the draft.

McMillan could be a mismatch with a large frame and ball skills that have scouts excited. Next to Bowers? That might be enough for Las Vegas to pull the trigger. He is not a perfect prospect, though, as one AFC scouting director who was worried about injuries said, "[McMillan] got hurt in the spring and I don’t know that he ever made it back to 100 percent."

Though most are weary of taking running backs early in draft these days, Boise State's mercurial superstar Ashton Jeanty looks to be as close as a sure-thing you can get in a running back. The Broncos phenom rushed for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns on 374 carries.

An explosive workhorse with a compact 5-foot-9, 215-pound frame and 4.42 speed, Jeanty could be an instant-impact injection for the Raiders rushing attack, which finished dead-last in 2024. The Detroit Lions are a recent example of successfully bucking the trend of holding off on a ball carrier in the first round, having selected Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 in 2023. He just rushed for over 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns.

While the Raiders' offensive line has a promising future with Jackson Powers-Johnson anchoring the interior with his versatility and brutality in the trenches, they could very well consider taking an offensive tackle. Among the top of big boards right now are Texas' Kelvin Banks Jr. and LSU's Will Campbell. Banks is a menace in the run game and finding a better pass blocker in the draft would be a tough ask. Campbell is not far behind from Banks.

Both are walk-in starters.

Defensively, the Raiders have to be confident in their defense's future. Second-year cornerback Jakorian Bennett took a huge step and the youth movement showed a lot of promise. Maintaining a good defense in an AFC West that has three star quarterbacks and three very good coaches could be a top priority for Carroll and Co., though.

Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter is being touted as the next Micah Parsons and though he likely won't be there when it's the Raiders' turn, putting him on the other side of Maxx Crosby to cause havoc to opposing quarterbacks is a thought worth considering. Carter's versatility would fit within the multiple schemes Las Vegas currently runs under defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, should he stay.

After Carter, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham is considered by many to be the top defender. He is an athletic space-eater with pass rushing ability, typical of the post-Aaron Donald interior, with Jim Harbaugh pedigree and a motor similar to that of the Lions' Aidan Hutchinson, another Harbaugh product.

Graham's teammate, cornerback Will Johnson, didn't have a season many expected. But Johnson's intangibles and ceiling as an eraser, lock-down corner have some many still high on him. A secondary with Johnson, Bennett, Jack Jones, and Nate Hobbs would be hard to pass up. Especially when you have to face Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Bo Nix twice a year.

Lastly, this reporter would be remiss to not mention Georgia edge rusher Jalon Carter, who has a good floor and a lot of the traits seen in most the NFL's game-wreckers at the position. Most in the media don't have a top-10 grade on him, but he has garnered a lot of respect from around the league.

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