Las Vegas Raiders still have some questions that need to be answered after the 2025 NFL Draft
The 2025 NFL Draft is over, and the Las Vegas Raiders love the work they just did. Their draft class has a bit of everything — players that will help them win right now, and players that will help them massively in the future.They needed a draft like that because, while Pete Carroll, a head […]
The 2025 NFL Draft is over, and the Las Vegas Raiders love the work they just did. Their draft class has a bit of everything — players that will help them win right now, and players that will help them massively in the future.
They needed a draft like that because, while Pete Carroll, a head coach who did nothing but win with the Seattle Seahawks and USC, says they will win right away, that's not entirely realistic. Can we assume this team will be better than last year right away? Yes. Can we assume this team will compete with the Kansas City Chiefs for the top spot in the AFC West? Likely not.
Regardless, the Raiders got better after this draft. But there are still some questions that need to be answered. And hopefully they get answered pretty soon.
Raiders have questions that need answering
What are they doing at QB for the future?
The Las Vegas Raiders could have taken a developmental quarterback in Shedeur Sanders in this draft, but instead passed on him a handful, or maybe more, of time. They need a guy to sit behind Geno Smith, the 34-year-old quarterback whose career has only ever worked out in the few years he played with the Seattle Seahawks.
So, is that guy Aidan O'Connell? Likely not. Is that guy Cam Miller, the FCS quarterback you took in the sixth round? If so, what are you doing with O'Connell, the QB you said you wanted to trade? There's a lot going on in the QB room, and it feels like there isn't much of a plan. Who knows, maybe they try to get a QB next year, as Smith's contract has a potential out for 2026, but even then, who's to say they will be bad enough to get a top QB in the next draft?
What's the direction of the LB room?
The Raiders needed to go get a linebacker who can cover off the ball. I cannot stress enough that the LB room could be the worst position group on the entire team, by a long shot. They have plenty of bodies in the room, but they are all sixth or seventh-round guys, or even UDFA guys, outside of Elandon Roberts and Devin White.
Those two are the projected starters at both on-ball and off-ball positions. Neither can cover. Roberts didn't cover with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and White didn't cover with the Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is why he's getting the vet minimum at his age. They needed to draft an off-ball linebacker, and then when they did draft one, in the seventh round, mind you, they drafted another on-ball linebacker.
Are the Raiders still going to search out trades for O'Connell and Mayer?
The Raiders, before the 2025 NFL Draft, wanted to trade O'Connell and Michael Mayer to possibly gain some draft capital for the draft. Are they still going to do that and pursue draft capital for next year's draft? Or, now that they don't have a great backup with experience at the QB position, and now that their rookie QB they drafted was a sixth-round FCS guy, are they going to keep O'Connell?
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