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The Las Vegas Raiders will need to add some top offensive players amid their quarterback struggles and their reported trade of wideout Davante Adams to the New York Jets.
The answer to the Aidan O’Connell vs. Gardner Minshew debate may lie in the 2025 NFL draft, into which Colorado stars Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are expected to enter.
Sanders, who has shown he is capable of clutch plays as the Buffaloes’ quarterback, and Hunter, a two-way player who could transition solely to wide receiver in the NFL, could both be targeted by the Raiders this April.
Other potential first-round targets to replace Adams or the quarterbacks include Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan or Missouri wideout Luther Burden III.
The Raiders currently hold one pick in each of the seven rounds of the 2025 NFL draft. Their 2-4 season-opening record has the team on track for a potential top-ten selection in the first round.
Here’s a look at a few of the top players the Raiders could decide to target in Green Bay next spring.
Shedeur Sanders (QB)
Sanders currently leads the Big 12 with 2,018 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns and a 72.6 pass completion rate despite Colorado’s offensive line struggling to protect him early in the season. Minshew and O’Connell have struggled behind the Raiders’ young o-line, so Sanders’ success behind his up-and-down unit in Boulder could appeal to Las Vegas leadership.
Travis Hunter (WR/CB)
Hunter has repeatedly said that he hopes to continue his work as a two-way player in the NFL, the more demanding workload in the NFL could lead to the wideout/cornerback focusing on one position over the other at the next level.
Some NFL scouts reportedly believe that should be wide receiver. Should the Raiders decide to stick with O’Connell next year, they could hope adding a wideout used to heavy workloads with the capability of developing into an elite receiver could change the third-year quarterback’s outlook for 2025.
Quinn Ewers (QB)
Ewers has missed multiple games to injury during his junior season for Texas, but when healthy has connected on a career-high 72.2 percent of passes. That accuracy improvement showed why Ewers passed on the 2024 draft in order to wait for the 2025 edition, and makes him a potential candidate to compete for a starting spot next year in Las Vegas.
Jalen Milroe (QB)
Milroe is leading the SEC with 11.2 yards gained per pass attempt through six Alabama games this season, while also recording 77 carries for 319 yards. His potential to develop as a two-way quarterback in the NFL could make him an appealing pick for a Raiders team looking for more options from their signal callers.
Tetairoa McMillan (WR)
McMillan has emerged as a potential top wideout in the 2025 draft while leading the Big 12 with 742 receiving yards through six games for Arizona. Should the Raiders decide to take a swing at another game-changing receiver, this 6-foot-5 wideout could be a potential first-round option.
Luther Burden III (WR)
Burden has earned 2025 draft buzz by establishing himself as a YAC threat in his third season for Missouri. That could make him an intriguing partner alongside tight end Brock Bowers, who has served as a bright spot in the Las Vegas offense so far this season, if the Raiders decide to stock up on targets in the upcoming draft.
The Raiders learned after acquiring Adams from the Green Bay Packers two years ago that one star wide receiver is not enough to singlehandedly pull a team back into the playoffs.
Las Vegas could take that lesson into the 2025 NFL draft and decide to target a quarterback into which the franchise could hopefully build their offense around.
On the other hand, early reports by NFL scouts have indicated the 2025 quarterback draft class will be weaker than the 2024 edition.
In that case, the Raiders could decide to target an elite wideout in the hopes of improving the options O’Connell, who was named the team’s starter ahead of Week 6, has during his third NFL season.
What general manager Tom Telesco decides to do ahead of his second season at the helm of the team could depend largely on how the Raiders finish out the 2024 season, and how high that puts their first selection in the upcoming draft. Next up on the schedule is a Sunday road game against the Los Angeles Rams.
