Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Raiders Draft Needs, According to Rivals

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Apr 23, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek will have their first draft class as members of the Raiders organization by next week. Carroll and Spytek will be making their first selection for the Silver and Black on Thursday.

The good news for the Raiders is that they have already addressed the team's biggest need this offseason by trading for veteran quarterback Geno Smith.

Now the team can focus on their next biggest needs, which are on both sides of the ball. The offense and defense are solid units for the Raiders but still have some missing pieces to make them complete.

In the draft the Silver and Black would like to address those needs and the new regime also know they must address them to be successful starting next season.

But do the Raiders rivals scouting department have the same needs for the Raiders as they do.

Sports Illustrated's Senior NFL Insider Albert Breer talked about the Raiders draft needs according to their rivals scouting.

Las Vegas Raiders:

First round: No. 6.
Total picks: 9.
Needs: OL, DL, CB, WR, RB.

What you need to know: Jeanty has been connected to this team a lot, and it makes sense," said Breer. "Be it Marshawn Lynch, Rashaad Penny or Kenneth Walker III, Pete Carroll invested in backs in Seattle time and again in a way few in this era have. And I do believe that both Carroll and new GM John Spytek have a lot of love for Jeanty. But I’d look at Spytek’s history, and more history on Carroll, and not rule out a linemen here on one side of the ball or the other."

"Indeed, Spytek’s last five first-round picks in Tampa, and six of the last seven he helped ID under Bucs GM Jason Licht, were line-of-scrimmage players. So I wouldn’t rule out someone like Missouri’s Armand Membou or Texas’s Kelvin Banks Jr., particularly with left tackle Kolton Miller getting a little older and grumbling about his contract situation. And if Graham falls into their laps, he’d fit the football character/competitor part of the new program to a tee."

For the Raiders Jeanty would be the right pick, but if somehow a player drops to the Raiders at sixth overall, like last year's draft, that is a can't miss prospect, the Raiders can go away from Jeanty.

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This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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