The Las Vegas Raiders are one of many first main wild playing cards within the 2025 NFL Draft, which begins on April 24 in Inexperienced Bay. In typical Raiders vogue, there is no such thing as a actual consensus on what they may do with their No. 6 general decide, however there are a number of intriguing choices for them.
A quarterback, particularly Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, may very well be in play as a long-term decide to sit down behind veteran Geno Smith for a few years.
They’ve main wants throughout their roster.
However the way more possible, and maybe way more intriguing, choice is Boise State working again Ashton Jeanty.
The Raiders have been the favorites to land the highest working again prospect, and on Friday basic supervisor John Spytek was requested about the opportunity of taking him on the prime of the draft, per NFL.com’s Grant Gordon.
Earlier than he may even reply, head coach Pete Carroll instructed him to “watch out.”
Spytek then talked in regards to the significance of including elite gamers and drew a comparability to Saquon Barkley’s affect on the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I am gonna watch out about speaking about any particular participant. However, extra broadly to the working again query, I imply, we simply noticed Saquon Barkley simply change the Eagles in a single 12 months. Now that they had an excellent crew round him, and it was including an elite participant. I feel whenever you sit the place we sit, the thought is so as to add elite gamers at any place. I do not attempt to devalue any sure place.”
The Jeanty decide goes to be a sophisticated one for no matter crew finally ends up taking him within the first spherical.
He’s indisputably one of the crucial gifted gamers within the draft, the perfect at his place and was a completely dominant participant in faculty. There are lots of issues to love about him, and he can completely change an offense and a crew if every little thing goes in accordance with plan.
The hot button is it needs to be the proper crew and the proper offense.
The Barkley comparability truly affords fairly a cautionary story for a crew just like the Raiders, and Spytek even unintentionally talked about it in his reply: The Eagles already “had an excellent crew round him.”
Barkley was additionally signed as a free agent. The Eagles didn’t have to make use of a top-10 decide so as to add him into their group.
He was the ultimate piece of their Tremendous Bowl puzzle, not one of many beginning items.
One of many largest causes the working again place grew to become so devalued lately wasn’t simply due to how quick their careers are. It’s also due to how dependent their manufacturing and affect is on the crew and scenario round them. They want an excellent line, a robust passing recreation and a great system for every little thing to click on.
Barkley had none of that when he performed for the New York Giants after they chose him with a No. 2 general decide. As a substitute of getting him be the ultimate piece of their offense, he was the piece they tried to construct round. And whereas Barkley had some particular person success, it was not the identical as he skilled in Philadelphia. The crew success was nowhere near the identical. It was not as a result of he was totally different. The scenario was totally different.
It’s a comparable story with the latest working again to be picked within the prime 10, Atlanta Falcons working again Bijan Robinson. He’s nice, dynamic and makes lots of performs. However remainder of the Falcons offense is so flawed that it has not but made a huge effect on their offense or their crew success.
Jeanty may very well be a steal and fast affect participant for anyone within the first spherical. But it surely needs to be a crew that already has a lot of the different core gamers in place.
Are the Raiders that crew? There needs to be some doubt about that, and the Raiders want to concentrate on that.
